Remembering You
by hoshi-ni-onegai
Summary: Kagome must fulfill her destiny as the Densetsu no Miko, leaving her memory of Inuyasha and the Sengoku Jidai behind forever. Allowed to live to her time, Inuyasha and Kagome are reunited after five centuries only to be met with more turmoil.
1. Arigatou

Author Notes: This is my second fic overall but my first Inuyasha fic. It's a continuation of the series. I haven't read the whole series yet so you have to look at it from the point I describe it. . . it's not that hard to figure out. . . I took a lot of liberties in creating this. . . and incorporated some legends I've heard of personally. . . my first language is Japanese and English is my third, so there are some parts when I think it'll sound better in Japanese and so I put it in there. I'll have translation right after it so no worries. . . well I hope you guys enjoy this fic as much I will writing it. . . oh warning! Although this chapter is long (in my terms that is) it won't always be this long. . . sorry. . . well enjoy the chappie! Tell me what you think! R&R  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. . . I wish I did. . . *cry*  
  
". . ." dialogue  
  
'. . .' thoughts  
  
(. . .) author's useless commentary  
  
Arigatou  
  
By Hoshi-ni-Onegai  
  
During the final battle with Naraku everyone fought with everything they had, not holding back. Naraku was destroyed with the final swipe of Inuyasha's tetsusaiga. Luckily there were no casualties on Inuyasha's side, the only one nearly fatally injured was Inuyasha himself. Kagome, Miroku, Sango, Kirara, Shippou, and Myouga got their fair share of damages. They decided to stay in a village near by that night for Inuyasha was in no condition to travel back to Kaede's village. That night was when Kikyou came, not to take Inuyasha to hell but to kill Kagome.  
  
"I have come to collect my jewel shards." Kikyou looked down upon the frightened Kagome as she still lay in her futon. Kagome had gotten her own room that night, as did everyone else, Miroku's negotiation skills were improving with the innkeepers.   
  
"Your jewel shards? I have as much right to them as you do." Kagome coming out of her frightened state was sitting up now and displayed an air of confidence.  
  
Kikyou smirked at Kagome's comment. "You have as much right to the shards as I do? Don't be stupid foolish girl. You are only a copy. The jewel was put into my care, not yours. Now hand it over."  
  
"No! You died! This foolish girl was born with the jewel inside her! I will not let you take it away from me! From us! It took us two years to collect these shards! The only one that is left is the shard you hold now."  
  
"What use do you have with the jewel? Do you wish to purify it? You can only do that if you use it to destroy a great evil. But you didn't use it did you when you killed Naraku. You did not have it complete, you did not wish to risk letting even a small shards such as this one float around in this world." During this point Kikyou had pulled out her shard of the jewel from her within her gi. "What do you wish to do with a completed jewel once you have it? Use it bring yourself unspeakable power? Use it for world peace? Use it to win the love of Inuyasha?"   
  
Kagome's eyes went wide and became speechless on what to say.  
  
"What's wrong girl? Afraid that I learned of your secret? Your hidden desire? You are nothing compared to me. You will never earn the love of Inuyasha being such a second rate replica. What would Inuyasha want with someone like you?" At this point Kikyou drew an arrow into the bow she always carried around. She aimed at Kagome. "He's just confused right now. With a tramp like you following him around who could blame him? Let me just get rid of that confusion for him!"  
  
She let the arrow fly going straight for Kagome's heart. Kagome had no idea what to do, within the next second an arrow would pierce her heart. There would be no one there, she wouldn't even be able to say good-bye. She wouldn't be able to say good-bye to Inuyasha. The arrow reached her now and was about to penetrate her skin when a rough hand pushed her out of the way and the arrow imbedded into the arm connected to that rough hand.  
  
There was Inuyasha protectively covering Kagome with his leg propped up on one side of her and his now bleeding arm in front of her as a shied.  
  
"I-inuyasha?" Kagome voice finally came to her as she stared at Inuyasha in shock.  
  
The previously scowling Inuyasha who was looking at Kikyou now brought his attention to Kagome. "Kagome! Are you okay?!"  
  
"You came for me?"  
  
"What are you talking about wench? I always come for you."  
  
Kikyou seeing this exchange was getting pissed off and drew another arrow. "You have forgotten our promise I see Inuyasha. I was the foolish one this time. I should have gotten rid of that girl when I had the chance!" She let another arrow fly.  
  
This arrow was aimed at Inuyasha's heart this time. The purifying power that it has would kill Inuyasha if it hits him in the heart. If he moved out of the way it would hit Kagome. "Inuyasha doite!" (translation: Inuyasha get out of the way!)  
  
'I can't let you get hurt Kagome, you've been hurt enough because of me. . . good-bye Kikyou.' Inuyasha used the blood dripping from his wound in his right arm and yelled as his eyes locked with Kikyou's. "Hijin Ketsusou!"  
  
Before their eyes Kikyou and her arrow were cut in to shreds. Just before her body was completely destroyed Kikyou uttered her last words, "Arigatou Inuyasha. . ." And so she was dead and a glow of light seeped out of Kikyou's remains and blasted into Kagome. Her soul was now complete.  
  
Inuyasha passed out at that moment from straining the injuries he received from Naraku. Kagome was panicking until she noticed that he just fell asleep and some of his flesh wounds were beginning to heal. She went over to the remains of Kikyou, which was only dirt and bones, and picked up the last piece of the shikon no tama and it fused together with the rest and formed the completed jewel. She gazed into the jewel, bright pink and white light gently swerved within it. 'This is it. . . what we risked our lives for during the past two years. . . two years of knowing Inuyasha. . .' She let her gaze glance across the room until it rested upon Inuyasha who was now tucked into Kagome's futon. She made her way over there and kneeled next to him brushing his cheek with her hand.  
  
"Inuyasha. . . you lost you love again. . . this is my fault. I shouldn't have ever come across the well. Your life would have been so much simpler. . ." Tears spilled down her cheeks and her head bowed as her bangs hid her eyes. "You shouldn't have ever met me."  
  
Suddenly a clawed hand grasped the hand that had been brushing his cheek. "Don't say that."  
  
"Inuyasha!"  
  
"Don't ever say that. I won't forgive you if you ever say that again. I don't regret anything after I met you. If I did I would be regretting becoming the person I am now. You've changed me Kagome. You've changed me for the better."  
  
"But what about Kikyou?! You lost her again! This time it was my fault! I'm no better than Naraku. . ." Her tear stricken face was still facing the open futon area next to Inuyasha. She pulled back her hand that had been brushing his cheek and fisted her hands on her lap.  
  
Inuyasha reached over and held her chin with his hand guided it until her blue-gray eyes were locked on his golden ones. "Don't say that either. What happened just now wasn't you fault. If anything it was Kikyou's. Kagome, to me she died fifty years ago. She was brought back with the hatred towards me. I didn't lose her twice, she never came back to begin with." He swiped away the tears from her eyes. "This may sound mean, but if hadn't lost her in the past you wouldn't have been born. I wouldn't have met you. And I know that would have hurt so much more than losing Kikyou a hundred times."  
  
Kagome was speechless. Inuyasha kindly smirked and took advantage of her stillness and pulled her under the futon and put her in a position where her back was against his chest and they were both laying or their side. He wrapped his arm around her waist and snuggled his nose into her hair. "I-inuyasha?"  
  
"Shhh. Just let me hold you like this." He breathed in the aroma around her. "You always smelled better than Kikyou to me. . ." Kagome was about to respond to that when she heard the light snoring next to her ear. She smiled gently and made herself comfortable.  
  
When the morning sun came up Inuyasha was still hurting from his wounds as was everyone else for they were human. So they hitched a ride with Hachi. The ride back wasn't eventful at all. There was nothing threatening their lives nothing chasing them it was clear sailing. Everyone was mostly quiet throughout the trip. Shippou was taking a nap on Kagome's lap, Kagome was sitting around the middle, Sango and Miroku were situated next to each other up front and Inuyasha was laying in the back his arms crossed behind his head and his right leg propped up. He was doing what everyone else was doing gazing at the sky.  
  
When Kagome had woken up that morning she was alone in the futon the presence of Inuyasha gone. He had left earlier, to avoid confrontation. They had yet to speak to each other that day; each for separate reasons. Inuyasha, because he was embarrassed about what he confessed in his drowsy state the night before. Kagome, still blaming herself about the death of Kikyou. She couldn't let it go. She was completely convinced that although Inuyasha was sweet enough the night before to tell her that it wasn't her fault. In her heart, she believed it was. So while everyone else was relaxing for the fact that there weren't any life-threatening people running around anymore, except Seshoumaru (but we'll discuss him later), Kagome was depressed on how much irreparable damage she caused to Inuyasha's life.   
  
They reached Kaede's village sometime in the afternoon, soon after calling the old miko outside the Shikon no Tama that had been tucked away in Kagome's shirt started glowing. Inuyasha, being the worrywart he is when it comes to Kagome started panicking. While everyone else looked at it awe as Kagome pulled it out of her shirt. Suddenly an image, which looked kind of holographic, shown in the middle of the circle they had subconsciously formed. This image was of Midoriko, the miko that created the Shikon no Tama all those years ago.  
  
"Kagome, you shall go back to the future and never return to the Sengoku Jidai."  
  
Everyone was in shock except for Kagome who just smiled sadly.  
  
"What?! Why?!" Inuyasha exclaimed instinctively stepping in front of Kagome.  
  
"Because she is not of this time, if she were to stay she would alter history." Midoriko calmly answered the enraged hanyou.  
  
"How the hell do you know that?!"  
  
"I can see the alternate future, in it humans die off within the next two hundred years. If humans die off that means that Kagome who is born in five hundred year later would never exist. Every that occurred since the time she came would no longer exist and the flow of time will forever be irreversible."  
  
"Meaning. . .?" Kagome now spoke up with her doubts.  
  
"You would disappear before your friends very eyes in forty-eight days." Midoriko acknowledged with her still serious face.  
  
"Forty-eight days? Why forty-eight?" Everyone was slightly relieved that Sango asked the question that everyone else had in mind as well.  
  
"Because that will be the time when Kagome would make a fatal choice."  
  
"What could I have done that changed the passing of time so much?"   
  
Midoriko faced Kagome again, "You were living here with the Shikon no Tama. Passing from one time to the other occasionally."  
  
"What if she makes a wish?!" Inuyasha was still standing possessively in front of Kagome and voiced his suggestion.  
  
"There is no wish that Kagome could make that is not considered selfish."  
  
Miroku who had been silent as of yet spoke, "What if she wished for Inuyasha to become human?"  
  
"I could never do that to Inuyasha."  
  
Inuyasha turned his head to glance at Kagome from the corner of his eyes, "You don't want to stay here?"  
  
Kagome felt a pang of guilt and tried to explain, "I do!! But. . . you've wanted to become full demon for the longest time. . . I can't make you become what you hate the most. . ." Her eyes averted towards the ground her fingers locking together in a prayer fashion in front of her.  
  
Inuyasha looked sadly upon Kagome, ". . .I don't hate humans or being half human. . . that would mean I hate you. . ."  
  
"Inuyasha. . ."  
  
They were in their own little world until Midoriko stepped in, "That wish is considered selfish, that wouldn't purify the jewel. It would benefit your overall happiness."  
  
Sango spoke up with what seemed like the best suggestion, "What if she asked for world peace?!"  
  
"She will die." Midoriko answered placidly.  
  
"Huh?! Why?!" Inuyasha along with everyone else was confused. How could asking for world peace be bad in a time of such peril?  
  
"Because she has a predestined death in the Sengoku Jidai in a year."  
  
"Her death?. . ." The thought alone of Kagome brought an air of thick depression over Inuyasha.  
  
"The only way to escape that will be for Kagome to leave and meet her destiny in the future."  
  
"My destiny?"  
  
"Yes, to become the 'densetsu no miko.'" (translation: the legendary priestess)  
  
"Kagome-sama is the 'densetsu no miko?!'" Miroku being the knowledgeable one in the Shinto legends made the connection first.  
  
"What is the 'densetsu no miko?'" Kagome was beyond confused.  
  
"You have to leave Kagome." Kagome stared with hurt reflecting in her eyes after Inuyasha said that.  
  
"Huh? What's going on? What's the 'densetsu no miko?'" Hurt was apparent in Kagome's voice.  
  
"The 'densetsu no miko' is the what balances good and evil in the world." Sango explained looking sadly at Kagome.  
  
"Huh? My time isn't infested with evil why would I need to balance it?" Kagome looked around hopefully at everyone, but no one changed they glance of hopelessness.  
  
"You would be surprised on what the scale of good and evil is at. You're a guarantee, Kagome. Al the 'densetsu no mikos' have met a certain calling." Midoriko explained.  
  
"A calling? What kind of calling?" Kagome was still a bit confused.  
  
"One that rests the fate of all things living upon you shoulders."  
  
"That's why you have to go. . ." Inuyasha said as he avoided looking at Kagome in the eyes.  
  
"But where is the 'densetsu no miko' of this time?" Kagome asked.  
  
"She exists, yet no one knows of who she is. She will fulfill her destiny. Will you?"  
  
Kagome was panicking now, "Every one will die without me? My friends, family, this history, my memories with you all?!" Tears were pouring down her face.  
  
"That, I cannot help."  
  
"What do you mean?" Kagome looked up at Midoriko.  
  
"When you return to your time you will lose all memory of anything that happened after you went through the well."  
  
Kagome was stunned beyond belief. "I'll forget. . . everything?"  
  
"Yes, I'm sorry. But if you stay here there is no hope for humans and for the world."  
  
"I have no other option but to leave. . ."  
  
Inuyasha looked at Kagome as if the world just crumbled, and his world did. "Kagome. . ."  
  
Midoriko observed the exchange between the two and showed pity, "You may stay here until the forty-seventh day, but then you must leave."  
  
Sango looked pleadingly at Kagome, "You'll stay right?"  
  
"Kagome-sama, stay with us. . ." Miroku requested.  
  
"Please stay as long as you can!" Shippou spoke up for the first time since they began talking.  
  
"Kagome. . ." Inuyasha seemed the most desperate out of all of them.  
  
Kagome let her eyes travel across her friends finally looking at Inuyasha. ". . .I'm sorry. . . Midoriko-sama, I choose to leave now." She said this as she wiped the tears from her eyes.  
  
"WHAT?!" Everyone cried out in unison.  
  
Inuyasha was hurt and angered, "Do you want to forget us so quickly?! Was your life after meeting me that bad?!"  
  
Kagome didn't answer him over anybody and walked over to Kirara and crouched in front of her. Kagome reached out and scratched the untransformed Kirara behind the ear. Without making eye contact with Sango, who was standing behind Kirara, she asked, "Sango-chan, can I borrow Kirara?"  
  
"Kagome-chan. . ."  
  
Standing up she pulled Sango into an embrace, "Thank you, Sango. You're the best girlfriend a girl could ask for. We went through so much together. I love you like the sister I never had."  
  
Sango returned Kagome's embrace and sobbed, "Kagome-chan!"  
  
Kagome brushed Sango's until her sobs died down and looked her in the eyes and gave a gentle but genuine smile. Untangling herself from that embrace she stepped over to Miroku who had been standing next to Sango.  
  
Kagome smirked, "Keep you hands where I can see them." She pulled Miroku into an embrace as well. "I thank you too. You watched out for me like an older brother would," Kagome giggled at this point. "A perverted older brother that is! Take care of Sango."  
  
"Kagome-sama. . ." Kagome gave one final squeeze and walked over and kneeled down so she was eye level with Shippou.  
  
"You were like another little brother," she hugs him to her while ruffling his hair affectionately, "maybe a little cuter than Souta but no less family."  
  
"Ka~go~me~!" He was bawling his eyes out and buried himself in the familiar comfort of Kagome's lap and stomach. She hugged the little kitsune youkai with all the parental love she could put into it. She set Shippou in Sango's arms and walked over to Kaede.  
  
"I lost my grandmother when I was little. I was nice having one again for the past tow years. Everything I know about being a miko I learned from you. Thank you so much." Kagome bent down and embraced the short old woman.  
  
"I wish you the best with your destiny. You will be a far greater miko than any the world has yet to see."  
  
Kagome held Kaede by the shoulders and smiled as she looked into the old woman's eyes. "You were always so nice." Her attention was taken away when a well-known flee-demon hopped onto her hand.  
  
"It's is true Kagome you will become extremely powerful. You have a lot of potential!" Myouga said as he jumped on her hand.  
  
She smiled sadly at Myouga and tapped him gently on his head with her index finger, "Thank you, but as flattering as that is I would rather stay here than to have so much power." She turned around to glance in the direction of Inuyasha. "Yes, I would much rather stay here. But I won't be selfish." She let go of Kaede's shoulder and Myouga leaped off of her hand. She made her way towards Inuyasha.  
  
But right when she was about to say something he turned around to her sorrow until he kneeled before her with his back to her. "I'll take you to the well."  
  
"You don't have to Inuyasha. . ."  
  
"I know that!. . . I just want to. . ." Kagome smiles down at his back and walks over to the already transformed, petting her behind her ear.  
  
"I guess I'll hitch a ride with Inuyasha, thank you for all the rides Kirara. You should have met Buyo, I guess it's too late though."  
  
Making her way towards Inuyasha she climbed onto her familiar position on his back for the last time. As he leapt into the air Midoriko stayed behind with Sango, Miroku, Shippou, Kaede, Myouga, and Kirara. Kagome turned around hanging onto Inuyasha with one hand as she waved with the other.  
  
"Bye everyone! Even though I can't miss you because I won't remember you, but I know my life has changed for the better because I met you all! Thank you all so much! I hope. . . no, I know we will all meet again someday!"  
  
With that Inuyasha and Kagome could no longer be seen by the rest of the group. As they leapt through the air Kagome whispered into Inuyasha's dog-ears she loved so much. "Inuyasha?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Are you angry?"  
  
Inuyasha gave a sighed. "No, but disappointed."  
  
Kagome hid her face into his back. "I'm sorry."  
  
"Why won't you stay with us for the extra days?"  
  
"What's the use? The sooner I leave the sooner you guys can go back to your own lives."  
  
". . . Do you honestly think that?"  
  
"Maybe. . . no, but the sooner I leave, the sooner I get to move on."  
  
"You want to forget us that much huh?" He was beginning to scowl a bit.  
  
"No! I don't want to forget! That's the last thing I want! But if I stay any longer I might refuse to leave!"  
  
"What could change in forty-seven days?!" He was now fully scowling, yelling, and turning to look at her to get the desire effect.  
  
Looking him straight in the eye she exclaimed, "My feelings for you!"  
  
Realizing what she just admitted to freely she slaps a hand over her mouth, eyes wide. Just then Inuyasha had landed in front of the well. She stumbled off him falling on her butt with the well against her back. Inuyasha turns around with surprise written across his face. ". . . your feelings?. . . for me?"  
  
Silence fell around them; Kagome's face and Inuyasha's went back to normal. They stared into each other's eyes. Kagome broke away the staring by turning around and climbed over the lip of the well and sat herself down with her feet dangling over the inside of the well.  
  
"I'm sorry Inuyasha." She said as she gazed down at the bottom of the well. The well that connected her to this time, to her friends, to him.  
  
"Why are you apologizing?"  
  
"Because. . . I promised myself I wouldn't get attached to this place. . . I knew that I would never would be allowed to stay. . ."  
  
Inuyasha stepped towards her a bit taken aback. "How did you know?! Why didn't you tell me?!"  
  
"I knew because it was too good to be true. These things never last."  
  
"Kagome. . ."  
  
"I remember the first time you used my name. . . I guess that's when it all started."  
  
"What started?"  
  
"My uncontrollable feelings."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Kagome smiles brightly but sadly. "I'm sorry."  
  
". . . why are you sorry?"  
  
"Because I broke the rules. . ."  
  
"Rules?"  
  
"Inuyasha gomen ne. Watashi baka datta. Kono mama de irareru wakenaitte wakatteta noni. . . wakatteta noni. . ." (translation: I'm sorry Inuyasha. I was stupid. I knew we couldn't stay as we were. . . I knew it but. . .)  
  
"Kagome?"  
  
She turned around looking fully at Inuyasha the most brilliant smile upon her face, Inuyasha was speechless but Kagome wasn't. "Sukidayo Inuyasha. Daisuki. Watashi no koto wasurenaidene." (translation: I like you Inuyasha. I like you a lot. Don't forget about me.)  
  
With that she jumps into the well but Inuyasha catches her hand at the last second.  
  
"O-oremo! Oremo sukida! Itsukaraka wakaranaiga orewa omaewo suki ni natteta. Kagome ga daisuki ni natteta." (translation: M-me too! I like you too! I don't know when it happened but I ended up liking you. I ended up liking Kagome.)  
  
Alone tear trails down Kagome's face and she smiles up to him.  
  
"Arigatou. Sayonara."  
  
Concentrating her miko power Kagome sent an energy blast to her hand forcing Inuyasha to let go and Kagome to disappear into the well. Back to her time.  
  
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A/N: okay, the reason why I put like in there instead of love is because in reality when ppl their age confesses to someone they like someone they say 'suki' more then 'ai'. . . yeah. . . this is only the first chapter don't worry there's more chapters to come! Oh! If you have any questions about any terms or anything (b/c I'm using more Japanese terms in this one than in my other fic) just ask me and I'll try to explain the best I can! Tell me what you think! Matane! 


	2. Destiny

Author Notes: um. no one is reading this fic are they? I had a total of 4 reviews, I plan to continue for these 4 ppl but since this fic is just starting out I would like your opinion in if I should continue this. Does anyone even like the idea? Ok, so no one knows the idea yet but you'll see more or less by the end of this chapter or the next one. . . this chapter is more a conversation with explanation, ppl we're still in introductions, bare with me. . .well I hop you guys read and review~ enjoy~  
  
Disclaimer: Inuyasha and everyone else in the cast doesn't belong to me  
  
". . ." dialogue '. . .' thoughts (. . .) author's useless commentary  
  
Destiny  
By Hoshi-ni-Onegai  
  
#warning: cuss words come up here and there b/c that's Inuyasha's character and I tend to cuss in real life. . . sorry#  
  
There was Inuyasha sitting with his back to the well gazing at his charred right hand. Kagome used her miko powers to make him let go and now his hand was burnt, because he was half demon. 'Would it have been different if I was human?'  
  
"No, it would have been different Inuyasha." During his musings Inuyasha did not notice that Midoriko and the others had joined him in the clearing.  
  
Still looking at his hand he whispered, "Why?"  
  
"Why what Inuyasha?" Miroku worriedly asked his friend.  
  
"Why would it end this way? Why did she ever pass over to this time? It's just as if she never came here. She's over there, no memories of us and with the Shikon no Tama with her. Why did you bring her here? To make fun of me?! Laugh and point at the stupid hanyou who grew to care for a human girl that he couldn't keep?! Was it a game to you?!" Inuyasha rose, so did his rage. His eyes were firing with fury and his clawed hands fisted to the point where blood was dripping to the ground due to his claws sinking into his palms.  
  
"I don't control any of this or anything that occurred." Midoriko answered.  
  
Inuyasha continued yelling, "Then who the hell does?!"  
  
"Amaterasu-sama." (Sun-goddess in Japanese mythology, ppl I am going to give her more powers than she usually gets. Why? Because I like her. ^o^)  
  
"What? She had nothing better to do than fuck up my life?"  
  
"Do not speak badly of her until you hear the message she told me to tell you."  
  
Miroku looked at Midoriko surprised, "A message from Amaterasu-sama?!"  
  
"Yes, about Kagome and her calling."  
  
"Why tell us?! We're never going to see her again!" Inuyasha snapped at Midoriko.  
  
"But you will see her again and will assist in her calling. Like you did for her first one."  
  
Everyone looked at Midoriko in shock and the silence was thick until Sango spoke, "First one?"  
  
"I did not wish to tell Kagome, but she was the 'densetsu no miko' for the Sengoku Jidai. She wasn't meant to be it for this time period but since Kikyou died a replacement was needed. Amaterasu-sama decided someone was needed. The next 'densetsu no miko' was Kagome from the future and so we connected the two times with the well."  
  
"So Kagome-sama was her reincarnation?" Miroku inquired.  
  
"That seems to a misinterpretation you went along with. No, Kagome is not the reincarnation of Kikyou. Kikyou stole a part of Kagome's soul to live. Kikyou walked this earth the second time without a soul of her own."  
  
"Then where is Kikyou's real reincarnation?" Sango also asked.  
  
"Kikyou became a kikyou, a bellflower, she lives in the mountains she's an immortal flower put to rest there." She faced Inuyasha directly now, "While alive she did much for the world. The Shikon no Tama was put into her care, even though it was not a destined requirements. She was cremated with the Shikon no Tama with her, it then passed to the rightful soul, Kagome's. Kagome is the reincarnation of something else, something much more powerful. . . Kikyou's assistance to the world was greatly appreciated and so she is eternally resting, as she wanted."  
  
"Then she had been reincarnated all this time? How did the Kikyou that rose from the dead, well. . . rise?" Sango, along with everyone else was slightly confused.  
  
"That walking corpse was made with the bones and dirt from Kikyou's burial sight. A body never forgets how it died or the emotions it had during its life. Anything that happened with that corpse is nothing. She was a hallow shell only with memories; it had a borrowed piece of soul that did not pertain to those memories. It would have been best if it was rid of in the beginning when it rose."  
  
"I knew Kikyou-nee-sama was not one to return with a sole purpose of revenge." Kaede looked towards Inuyasha, "Inuyasha, she did not wish to take you to hell. You have repented for what has occurred, I am sure that is enough for her. Let her go."  
  
Inuyasha was frozen with his head bowed, there was so much that needed to sink in. 'Everything that happened after Kikyou rose meant nothing. I wasted all this time feeling obligated towards her when she was already at rest. I used the time I could have had with Kagome.' With that he whipped his head up as another piece of information sunk in. "I get to see Kagome again?! When?! How?!"  
  
Shippou bounced around merrily tears streaming down his face, "Kagome~!"  
  
Midoriko looked at Shippou amusement apparent on her face, "There is a catch though."  
  
Inuyasha slumped down, "Of course there is."  
  
Miroku hit Inuyasha over the head with his staff, "Shut up Inuyasha. What is the catch Midoriko-sama?"  
  
"You have to live until her time."  
  
Everyone with blank faces: ". . ."  
  
Inuyasha was the first to respond yelling, "How the hell do we do that?! I maybe a hanyou but 500 years is going to put a toll on my body. I do age you know." The ending was said with dripping sarcasm.  
  
"Houshi-sama, Kaede-sama, and I are not meant to meet her once again?" Sango, grasped that humans were not meant to go along with this, spoke in a tone of sadness. The youkai also realized this and looked with sympathy to the three humans then at Midoriko.  
  
"Amaterasu-sama is willing to alter your aging so you can meet Kagome once again without worry."  
  
Everyone was baffled but Inuyasha was the one that spoke up, "Alter our aging?"  
  
"Yes, she will make it so that you age one year for every one hundred. Meaning your body would only have aged five years by the time you meet Kagome 500 years from now."  
  
"I get to see Kagome. . ." A rare genuine smile tugged at Inuyasha's mouth.  
  
"But do not forget, she will not remember you. Amaterasu-sama forbid you to reveal yourselves until five years after she returns from the well for the final time."  
  
"She won't remember?" Inuyasha looked crestfallen once again.  
  
"She will need your help non the less."  
  
"We help her and that's it? We go on living knowing about everything that happens and she lives on oblivious about us?"  
  
"When she finishes her second calling she will be given the option of forgetting everything that occurred for her second calling."  
  
"So we meet her then we're back to her not knowing us."  
  
Sango tried to be optimistic despite Inuyasha's usually glum mood. "Can we meet her afterwards and live our lives with her?"  
  
"How will we explain the youkai without scaring her and putting her in further danger?" Miroku pointed out with his logic.  
  
Shippou had stopped bouncing awhile ago and was now wailing, "Kagome~!"  
  
"Be quiet Shippou. . . just be quiet." Inuyasha's eyes hidden by his bangs, his voice was coated with sadness. Midoriko for the first time since she appeared showed emotion and looked at Inuyasha with pity.  
  
"There is one way of her remembering. . ."  
  
With this comment Inuyasha's head shot up with hope shining in his eyes. "How?! I'll do anything!"  
  
"It's not anything you can do. . . it's predetermined."  
  
Inuyasha slumped against the well again. "Let me guess, by Amaterasu- sama?"  
  
"No, this is something even she cannot control." Midoriko stared right into Inuyasha's gaze, "Soul mates."  
  
His eyes widened, "What?"  
  
"The moment your soul meets hers again, if she is willing and is your soul mate, her soul can will her to remember. Everything."  
  
Inuyasha looked hopeful for a moment but he was skeptical in an instant, "What do you mean 'if'?"  
  
"There is a possibility that she may not be your soul mate and she must be willing to remember."  
  
"Like persuading her?" Miroku brought the attention back to the group and not only on Inuyasha.  
  
"No, her soul will know if she wants to remember or not. But you will know if she is your soul mate Inuyasha."  
  
"How will I know?"  
  
"You'll know it in 500 years." At this point Midoriko's image started to fade away, "Oh, and there are certain others that will assist in the calling; therefore, their age will be altered as well."  
  
"Who?!" Inuyasha exclaimed afraid that she wouldn't hear.  
  
"You will meet them over time." With that she was gone.  
  
Silence engulfed the group until Inuyasha turned around and looked down the bone eaters well. "Gohyaku nen. . . mattete kure Kagome." (translation: 500 years. . . wait for me Kagome)  
  
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ A/N: Did I confuse anyone? If I did just ask me for clarification. I will now respond to the few and very valuable reviews I have~  
  
Inukawaii: yay~ someone likes my plot. . . but now u see the real thing. . . how do u like it now? I hope I didn't disappoint you, tell me what you think~ thanks for your review~  
  
Andrea Meiouh: I know that when I posted the first chapter it came out weird but now it's fixed! Oh and I will take good care of these characters~! Yay~! Ok, maybe I've had too much sugar. . . thank you~  
  
Aamalie: I'm sorry I made u cry! To tell you the truth I cried when I was editing it. . . I know that sounds stupid. . . and to answer you question about what type of fic this will be about I hope u know with this chapter~. . . oh! Ur my first review for this fic! Thank you so much!  
  
Sailorpsychosis: Arigatou gozaimasu! Nihonjin ni homeraretano hajimetenandesu! Anata no review wo mitatoki odorokimashita! Hontou ni arigatou gozaimasu! Thank you! 


	3. Five Centuries Later

Author Notes: This chapter is the longest chapter I have EVER written. 27 page yall!!! Wow this took me a week to write. Arg!!!!! I also still have another fic to write for! I hope I get a few reviews about this. I know it may seem a bit rushed but I wanted to get the ball rolling on he actual plot of the story. Well c ya guys~!  
  
Disclaimer: I own Inuyasha? Now that's funny. That'll happen the day I become a god in a messed up religion. I'll get back to you when that happens.  
  
". . ." dialogue '. . .' thoughts (. . .) author's useless commentary  
  
Five Centuries Later  
By Hoshi-ni-Onegai  
  
#warning: cuss words come up here and there b/c that's Inuyasha's character and I tend to cuss in real life. . . sorry#  
  
~Inuyasha POV~  
  
When you think about it five hundred years is along time. But use it to your advantage and you can accomplish so much more than you anticipated. Kagome left through the well. Midoriko explained everything to us. At the time we thought it was everything but she left us with more questions than answers. Oh well, I least I get to see Kagome again right? Yeah. Shit happens when you're waiting around for time to pass by. And shit doesn't happen when you wait around only for time to pass by. That's what I did for five years.  
  
After Midoriko vanished it was a silent agreement that we would stick together for the five hundred years. Yeah, I guess I was too deaf to know that this silent agreement pertained to me as well. I never left the well. Right after we were told our aging was altered we were lost on what to do. Okay, maybe I was lost and everyone else knew.  
  
Sango claimed that since five hundred years was going to be a long time she didn't want to sit around doing nothing. So she decided to continue on with her family tradition of being a youkai taijiya (demon exterminator) with faithful Kirara at her side. Miroku being the ever-persistent one followed her whenever she got a job, no matter how far, Miroku was sure to go along.  
  
With the curse of the kaza ana (air void) gone we thought Miroku would devote himself to Buddha, but that didn't happen. His lecherous ways also didn't end. I guess he couldn't let go of the way he lived for the two years Kagome was with us. No one really could. That's why Shippou tagged along with them.  
  
At first he was annoyed that he would grow at a freakishly irritatingly slow rate, but he got over that when Sango and Miroku pointed out that when we meet Kagome again she would still look at him like a cute fuzz ball. Realizing that we would be helping Kagome out on her second calling, he wanted to develop his fighting skills. Since his parents died before they could teach him everything, he decided the best way to develop his skills was to learn to fight. Being as small as he is there was still restrictions with his strength but he seems to be coping well enough. It's amazing how much that little guy can motivate himself to do, but you won't hear me saying that out loud anytime soon.  
  
Myouga hasn't changed much. Comes around occasionally to give the heads up or reports of a job Miroku and Sango can go off and do. Kaede is in the same league as him, hasn't changed much. Still doing her herbs and shit, yeah, that's her all right and still talking weird.  
  
I guess I didn't want to change either, but I seemed to have been clinging more than the others. I lived in the well. I'm not exaggerating or anything, I lived down there for three years. I would only come up if I heard something scurrying right next to the well, and the scurrying creature would end up being a meal. Rain would come down and that would be my water. Being hanyou allowed me to go on longer without food, don't get me wrong though, I was near death starving anyways because I love food so much. Frequently one of the others would come over and peek over the rim of the well and tell me to come out and live life. Telling me that I was going to see her again if I had patience, but I refused to go up. Damn I'm stubborn.  
  
My hair grew out I smelled like hell, I almost passed out a couple of times when there was drought because I couldn't rinse the dirt off me. Not only did I smell like hell I looked the part too. My fire rat robe as always repaired itself when it got torn. Not that it got torn often. I was down in the well, no activity meant no rips in my clothing. Oh well. The color of the thing did change after awhile. Instead of being red it became a reddish-brown and my undershirt was gray and yellow from dirt and sweat. My silver hair was no longer so, it was a mix of having streaks of gray, brown, and black. Before my hair reached my waist now went passed my feet. My clams were excessively long and caked with mud. I didn't care what I looked like, I just wanted Kagome back.  
  
I guess I thought maybe if I stayed at the well for five years, when she was supposed to meet my future self, the well might start working. I have no idea where I got that logic because it didn't happen. Five years living down there and around the same time of the year when we said to our good- byes to Kagome, Sango called out to me.  
  
"Inuyasha!" Her loud voice echoed off the walls of the well and rang into my extremely sensitive ears.  
  
After a bit of growling on my part on the behalf of my abused ears I replied a bit exasperated, "What do you want now Sango?"  
  
There was a pause then, "Inuyasha, it has been five years. She's not coming back."  
  
". . ."  
  
"Inuyasha." Her voice sounded almost pleading.  
  
Then suddenly Miroku's head could be seen leaning over the rim. "Sango- sama is right, Inuyasha. Kagome-sama will not be returning through that well. There is nothing to wait for. Come out of there."  
  
"Why should I? It's not like there is anything I can do out there." I looked towards the sky now seeing birds fly by and the gentle spring breeze bringing in the smell of sakura blossoms. I took a deep breath, shut my eyes and tried to remember what she smelled like. Kagome always smelled nice, pleasant and soothing. Sakura blossoms and peaches. I asked her once why she smelled like that. After a few minutes of blushing for an unknown reason she answered by saying that sakura blossoms surrounded her shrine and she uses soap for her hair that smells like peaches. I wonder where she got that soap? If I had that I would have a reminder on what she smelled like. . . but I don't think I'll ever forget her aroma. Is that the right word for it? Oh well, I was never really good with words.  
  
"Inuyasha!" I was pulled out of my reverie when Miroku yelled at me from above.  
  
"Yeah? What do you want now?" I continued looking up at the sky.  
  
"Midoriko-sama told us that we are to assist Kagome-sama in her second calling. In reality I think, no I know, that you will play the largest role in helping her. I doubt you being down there and doing nothing for five hundred years will do anything. Why not come out into the world and learn? There is much that you still do not know."  
  
"Thank you oh-so-enlightened-one."  
  
"Inuyasha I'm serious. When the time comes for you to reveal yourself to Kagome-sama what do you plan to do? Help her in your dirty clothes filthy appearance and wave around the long forgotten Tetsusaiga around? When you meet her will you still be the lost boy that you were when you went across the well before? Will you be a helpless child, useless to Kagome-sama?"  
  
Ouch. Yeah, that hurt. Not because of the blunt and semi-harsh words, but because it was the truth. If I stayed down in the well I would meet Kagome with nothing to offer. I had to get out. Learn everything that the world had to offer.  
  
"Inuyasha?" Sango sheepishly called down the well.  
  
Without warning I leaped out of the well and landed behind them. I gazed at the well as Sango and Miroku stared wide- eyed at me.  
  
"I have to leave." I surprised them and myself when I said that. Surprise was apparent on their faces but not mine.  
  
"W-where are you going to go?" Sango stuttered out.  
  
"I don't know, but Miroku you're right. I have nothing to offer Kagome if I meet her like this." I gestured with my right hand and looked down at my clothes. "I have to go learn. The next time I see you guys you're the ones who are going to be asking me the questions."  
  
I smirked at their still shocked faces and began biting my claws until they were at an acceptable length (for a hanyou that is). Then I unsheathed my Tetsusaiga started hacking off my hair. At first I thought maybe I would keep it at the length I always used to have it at but I thought what the hell, get rid of it. When I was done there was a pile of my hair on the dirt ground around me and my hair was short. I don't just mean Miroku short. The pieces of hair that always seemed to rest on my shoulder were gone my bangs were back to its normal length, maybe even shorter. And the mane of a hair that swept behind me was now chopped up. First thing learned: my hair spikes up in a wild manner when short.  
  
"Inuyasha!" Sango brought her hands in front of her mouth in shock and Miroku just smiled.  
  
"Sukkiri shita?" (translation: feel refreshed?) Miroku asked me.  
  
I passed my finger through my hair, "Hell yeah. Damn, I had a lot of hair."  
  
Sango stilled looked at me in shock, "Oh. My. God. Kagome is going to kill you!"  
  
"Huh?! Why?!" To say I started panicking would be the understatement of the century.  
  
"Kagome loved your hair! She's not going to be happy to see you if you meet her looking like that!"  
  
I looked to Miroku for help, "Don't look at me Inuyasha, you're the one that cut it off. Although I think it'll be easier for you to deal with."  
  
"What if Kagome doesn't want me because my hair is gone?!"  
  
"I really doubt that Kagome-sama's opinion of you will change because of your hair. She might be disappointed but I'm sure she'll get over it."  
  
"If you say that Miroku, you obviously don't know women." Sango said as she glared at Miroku.  
  
"Is that your way in saying that you have all say in how my hair is?"  
  
"N-no! Of course not! Your wife would have the say!" Sango exclaimed blushing as she looked away.  
  
As amusing as this was for me I decided that I best be leaving, "Even though I'm worried about what Kagome thinks I'll be leaving now."  
  
"When will we see you again? Five hundred years?"  
  
"Nah, I'll see you guys way before that."  
  
"I see that you're pretty confident about learning everything in a short period of time." Miroku said as he crossed his arms.  
  
I smirked, "You know it." With that I leapt into the direction of the woods and that was the last I saw of Sango or Miroku, until the next time I saw them that is.  
  
I was never good with good-byes so I decided to leave without talking to Shippou, Kaede, or Myouga. I didn't know where I was going so just went where my feet took me. The first place it took me was the lake that Kagome had swam in when she had just come across the well for the first time and where I saw her. . . um. . . without clothes for the first time. I didn't mean to back then, I was only aiming for the Shikon no Tama. I got my punishment by getting an 'osuwari' on very hard rock. Yay.  
  
The thought of the 'osuwari' brought back the memories of all time that she used that on me. A subconsciously fingered the beads around my neck as I made my way towards the water. I looked at my reflection and decided the best way to get rid of the dirt and grime from everywhere around me was to just get into the water fully clothed and swim around until I was clean. I'm so smart I surprise myself sometimes. Then after I get into the water I notice that the water weighed me down, but I've swam in my clothes before. Heck, that's the only way I swim. After about an hour of swimming around at a fast speed and I felt cleaner than I felt in the past five years I trudged up to the shore. I shook the water off me like a dog would, well, that's what Kagome always told me. She said it was cute, if she likes it I'll keep on doing it. That's when I heard a twig snap and without turning around I knew who was there.  
  
"What do you want Kouga?" I am proud to say that I didn't even growl, I just spoke to him calmly. I guess I'm changing already.  
  
"Where the hell have you been hiding her?! I've looking for her for five years! Well the hell is she inukoro?!" He lunged at me at that time. Even though I hadn't moved around much in the past five years I still had my reflexes and ducked.  
  
"Kouga, I'm really not in the mood to explain everything to you. Hell you don't even deserve explanations. This doesn't concern you."  
  
"What doesn't concern me?!"  
  
"Shit."  
  
"How do you explain that I barely have aged in the past five years?! Even for a youkai I'm aging slower than the average rate! Can you explain that?!"  
  
Hearing this I covered my face with my right hand, "Shit Midoriko, he's one of them?"  
  
"I'm one of what inukoro? Did chopping off your hair make you insane too?" He thinks he's so smart doesn't he? Well, I don't have time for him right now.  
  
"Look, if you want answers go to the village and ask Miroku, you know the guy in monk clothes that was always with us? I have to go." I was about leap off again then thought struck again, "Hurt anyone around here and I will personally hunt you down and neuter you." That's the last I saw of Kouga for a long time.  
  
During the time when I was on my journey I ran into Seshoumaru a couple times. First couple times it was the traditional bloody encounter but after time we started just making vicious cracks at each other. That lasted until suddenly there was a situation where we needed both of each other's help and now we rely on each other in tight spots. He's not out to get me for Tetsusaiga anymore and I don't have the compulsive urge to kill him every time I see him. Now, that's what I call brotherly love. Or hate, which ever.  
  
First thing I did after setting on my epic journey, I have no idea if it can be considered epic but oh well, was look for Kikyou. I know what you guys are all thinking, "Not again! Leave that bitch!" I'm not going to confess my undying love for her because I don't think I ever did, love her that is. What we had before was just two very lonely people that found some company. Depression can cloud your judgment. Trust me, I've been depressed enough times in my life to be able to write one of those textbook things Kagome used to carry around. Kagome. Every time I even think of her I start to worry. What happened to her after she crossed the well for the last time? How did her two-year frequent absences get explained? Is she taking those tests like she always wanted? Is she going on dates with that Hobo guy? Will I have to kill Hobo when I reach her time for touching her? Should I kill him slowly or quickly? I know the answer to that one, s~l~o~w~l~y. But the question I fear the most is: will she remember me? Will she want to remember me? Is she my soul mate? I don't know what I would do if Kagome wasn't my soul mate. What would happen if it were Kouga, Hobo, Seshoumaru, or even Naraku that was her real soul mate? Okay, I have to stop thinking like that.  
  
As I reached the mountain in which Kikyou now rested I went searching for her. And let me tell you it's freakishly hard to find an immortal bellflower on a mountain made of rocks. When I did spot her I knew straight away it was her. For some reason I had been looking for a pink flower. Why? Don't ask me. What I found was a patch of them in one area. All pink except for a lone flower that stood slightly taller than the rest and in the middle. This particular flower was white at the stem area and blood red at the edges. I smirked as I looked down at it.  
  
"I guess you never got a break from those miko clothes did you? Always in red in white. It suites you. . . I guess. I was never one to know much about color coordination."  
  
I paused, I don't know what I was waiting for. A response? Maybe I was going insane like Kouga said, I was talking to a flower after all.  
  
"All this time I thought that you came back in the form of Kagome, but I guess I was wrong. You two are two entirely different people. Heck you guys don't even look alike in my present opinion. Here I though you guys shared a soul. How is that even possible when you were calm and serene while she was cheerful and energetic? Being all immortal and living on a mountain I'm just going to assume you're all knowing. You saw me avenging you death right? Naraku's gone. It took awhile with the Shikon no Tama shattered and well. . . um. . . you're corps walking around. Yeah."  
  
There was nothing that indicated that Kikyou was listening to me, maybe I got the wrong bellflower? Probably not, this flower was oozing with Kikyouness. A gentle breeze blew and made all but the Kikyou bellflower sway. My eyes widened and the breeze started picking up but the only one not swaying was Kikyou. The wind stopped immediately and I smiled, yeah me smiling, watch out.  
  
"I'll take that as your subtle sign of telling me you're listening. Can you dance around and sprout another leaf to tell me you're happy I got rid of the scum of the earth also known as Naraku."  
  
I stared with so much concentration at Kikyou but nothing happened I sighed, "I'll take that as a yes you're happy he's gone and I shouldn't ask you to do the impossible."  
  
Heaving another sigh I looked everywhere but at Kikyou. "I realized something during the time I was with Kagome. . . I never loved you. I know that comes harsher than I mean it to. What we had before you died was. . . I'm not really sure. Maybe it was just that we liked each others' company. To honestly say, I don't think I would be willing to become human for you now if you asked. I will say this though. You were my first friend ever. That's what I felt for you, friendship. How do I know that now? I know that because when I was with Kagome, I found out what love felt like. I found out what it feels like to love someone, to be in love with someone. Wow. I never said that out loud, I never realized it before either. . . After awhile I also realized that you never loved me either. You're a miko, you're devoted to the cause of being a miko. That means you were never meant to have a man in your life. Even if you were going to have a man in your life it wouldn't have been me. Me becoming human with the Shikon no Tama was a convenience for you and me. You don't have the Shikon no Tama to deal with and I'm accepted into society. . . But I don't want to be accepted in society anymore. Kagome accepted me for what I am and I'll never change unless it was for her. I'll see her in five hundred years and when I do she might want me to turn into a duck. Who knows? But you'll see me traveling across the globe in search of a way to turn into a duck and fly back to her."  
  
I finally let my eyes glance at Kikyou who I could have sworn gave off a slight glow. Shacking my head to rid myself of my coming insanity I started to turn around to head down the mountain.  
  
"I'll visit from time to time. Want anything for my next visit? Food? Water? Dirt?. . . Don't look at me like that, it was a valid question." I shrugged and leaped off and called over my shoulder, "Take care Kikyou! Drink plenty of water and don't pick on the other bellflowers!"  
  
I might have lost it temporarily when I was talking to Kikyou but I felt better getting all that off my chest. After seeing Kikyou I had no idea where to head so I decided to travel around Japan. And so I did.  
  
Sixty years later I had taken in all of Japan into my memory. There was nothing for me to experience or learn in Japan. I looked towards the horizon of the west and made my way towards China. When I got there I was confused because of the language barrier but that was solved when I learned Mandarin within a year. Learning a new language was difficult at first but it was easier than I thought. After my sixty years traveling in Japan I started picking things up quicker. I guess my brain wasn't really put to that much use when I was hunting for the Shikon no Tama and when I was searching for the Shikon no Kakera.  
  
It was different in China, not that I expected for it to be the same as Japan. There were more of the people Kagome talked about, she called them 'gaijin,' foreign people. Japan is so small compared to China, and Japan's history seems shortened without the written records that seem to have been preserved in China. Traders from the foreign counties taught me a lot too. I sound like philosopher trying to learn everything. Damn. I used to think people that did that were wasting their lives. Then again I still do, except unlike everyone else I have five hundred years to waste. I traveled around what the foreigners called 'Asia' for about eighty years. When I reached this really tall mountains in what the natives called 'Himalayas' I stood at the top and decided it was about time I returned home. Eighty years changes a nation, I need to go back and take in Japan again before I forget Japanese. Feh, highly unlikely.  
  
While in China I discovered that there were so many martial art styles and became to determined to master all of them. I have high goals, that's what kept me over there for eighty years. All that damn reading, studying, and training. I'm stronger than what I used to be and I can wield the Tetsusaiga like it's another limb for me. Oh, what I loved most about China is that they brought ramen over to Japan. I think I like this country for its food now.  
  
Arriving in Japan I visited Kikyou, said hey and set off to travel around again. During my persistent travels I never looked at another girl. I may sound like a pussy but I was saving myself for Kagome. As difficult as it may seem it was fairly simple when I reminded myself of Kagome. Oh, and my hair grew out. Yeah, I started panicking all those years ago for no reason at all because I forgot hair grows out. So I chopped it off again. Long hair is way too much work.  
  
I went around to the dojos that existed in the time period to study Japanese martial arts. Traveling Japan for the second time took longer than the first, not much longer but still longer. It might have been that I also wanted to master the different types of fighting styles in all of Japan. Seventy and some years later I found myself at the well. It had some vines crawling its way up and some plants that had made it's home in it but it was still in relatively good shape considering I hadn't seen it for the past two hundred and fifteen or so years.  
  
Seeing the thing that connected me to Kagome at one point in need of cleaning I started pulling the weeds off and jumped in and got rid of all the plants that tried to grow there. I didn't kill the plants though I planted them in a different location after getting them in large heap. When I made my way back to the well after my gardening experience I decided that I should build the well house. Huh, I guess that well house in the future was made by me. I guess me and my chopping of wood attracted some attention, because as I was hauling my third tree over to the well Sango, Miroku, Shippou, Kaede, and Kirara came by.  
  
"Inuyasha?" The familiar voice belonged to Sango. It was different somehow, it held more maturity. Don't ask me how to measure maturity in a voice because I have no idea.  
  
I turned around to face them the trunk of the tree still wrapped by my right arm hauled over my right shoulder. I smirked, "Hey, what's up?"  
  
Miroku walked over towards me and was about to hit me on the head with his staff but I caught it, centuries of training will do that to you. Even so Miroku looked slightly ticked, "What the hell do you mean 'hey, what's up?' Where have you been for the past two hundred years?!"  
  
"I told you I was going to learn, came back for a rest. Gonna build the well house." I said this as a set down the tree.  
  
"A well house? What are you going to do building a well house for? No one comes around here. Even with the village gone and now becoming Edo the outskirts have yet to reach this area." Kaede looked and sounded as old as ever.  
  
"In Kagome's time there was a well house for this well. I plan to build it."  
  
There was silence as I cut up the piled up three trees into usable planks. They just looked at me like I grew a second head. Last time I checked I didn't so I just avoided their stare. "Hey got any food? I'm kinda hungry."  
  
"What the hell Inuyasha?! You've been gone for the past two hundred years and now you come back to build a house for a well asking us for food?! Where the hell have you been and why didn't you say good-bye?!" Whoa, Shippou seems enraged for some reason.  
  
"I came back, there was no need for a good-bye. Also in all technicalities two hundred years is only two years for us. And I'm hungry, give me a break man. I just came back from walking from Kyoto." Shippou leapt on my head and started biting my ears just like he used to. I smirked at that until I noticed something, he had human legs. I pulled him off my head set him on the ground in front of me. "Why do you look human?"  
  
"What are you talking about? All youkai disguise themselves as humans now days. You do."  
  
"Huh? What are you talking about? I'm not disguising myself."  
  
"You have your hair all messy like that to hide your ears right?"  
  
"Um. . . no? My hair is always like this now. Too much trouble with it long."  
  
"You have no idea do you?"  
  
"About what?"  
  
"Humans don't know youkai exist anymore. We're just myths and legends to them now."  
  
"What? Are we dying out or something?"  
  
"Kind of. The thing is we still don't have that many hanyou running around because the senior youkai wanted us to be as purely youkai as possible. We only breed within our species. Since it's hard to find someone of your species without committing incest the youkai's birth rate went down dramatically. We don't bother humans that much anymore, there are still a fairly large group that formed kind of like a secret society group and stuff. Most of us live among humans but we don't mate with humans. Inuyasha, for the amount of traveling and learning you've done you haven't picked up much on youkai living habits have you?"  
  
Wow, I missed out on a lot. I don't mean about the change in youkai behaviors but about how much Shippou grew up. Even with his ear biting, which I think he did out of old habit, he seems to have grown up. "Did you get taller?"  
  
"Inuyasha, are you even listening?"  
  
"Huh? Yeah, youkai are trying to be pure and we're dying out because only those that exist now are left and new youkai aren't being born as frequent as before. But really, did you grow? You're past my hip now. I remember when you were so short I almost stepped on you a couple times."  
  
Shippou looked at me a bit exasperated, "Yeah I grew. And by the way you phrased that it sounds as if you're an uncle that never visits and telling his nephew that he shot up."  
  
"Keh, close enough."  
  
I heard Kaede chuckling now, "You don't change much do you Inuyasha?"  
  
"After that much traveling and studying I'd like to think I changed even a little." I had resumed cutting the wood and using the Japanese style of not using nails. Then again what are nails? Oh well. As I was making the foundation Sango suddenly spoke.  
  
"Where did you learn carpentry Inuyasha? Last time I saw you, you could barely help in the repairs of the roof of Kaede's house."  
  
"Oh this? Learned it while I was in China. Needed the money to buy some food. So fixed stuff here and there for money, food, or lessons."  
  
"China? Lessons? You working?!" Sango along with everyone else seemed shocked.  
  
"Give me some credit, I work. Sorta. I was traveling over China for eighty years, but that was about seventy-five years ago. And lessons as meaning in martial arts lessons. Some of the dojos over there like the ones here are pretty beaten up. They always needed to be worked on. So I repaired and they taught me some stuff. Same goes for the dojos over here. Work for lessons, not a bad trade."  
  
"Inuyasha, I'm sorry but you and negotiating doesn't really paint a realistic picture for me." Miroku said this as he rubbed his temples as if he was having an on coming headache.  
  
"Shut up Miroku. Oh, if you're having a headache apply pressure to the pressure point on your left hand to relieve it."  
  
He stopped his rubbing to look at me quizzically as did everyone else. "What are you talking about?"  
  
Sigh on my part and I got up made my way over to Miroku pulled his left hand into mine and pressed the point. Let go of his hand and made my way back to my construction. "Tsubo dayo, tsubo. Chuugokujin wa tsubo no koto dewa kekou kuwashi katandayo." (translation: tsubo (Japanese word for pressure point). The Chinese are really knowledgeable when it comes to tsubo)  
  
Silence.  
  
Even more silence.  
  
Annoying silence.  
  
Me irritated.  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
"It's just. . . we're just surprised. You did go to learn everything didn't you?" Miroku said.  
  
"Why are you so surprised? I told you I would come back with answers to all your questions. Now leave me alone or help me here."  
  
"I'll be heading back now, and old lady like myself shouldn't be exerting herself making houses for wells. Come Kirara, give me some company on my walk back." Kaede left with Kirara and I guess Sango, Miroku, and Shippou decided to stay and help. They started working and I guess they still had some questions about what I'd been doing and I answered them. By sunset we were done, since we had been working since morning.  
  
As we stood in front of the well house and were gazing at it they kept on looking at me. After a few irritating glances from them I finally spoke up. "What is it now?!"  
  
"Why are you still dressed like that?" Sango gestured to my clothes. I looked down at them. What were wrong with my clothes. I always used these. Looking at the rest of the group I noticed that everyone else were wearing clothes of the time period.  
  
"Inuyasha, did you ever change? Your clothes I mean."  
  
"Why would I? I had no need to."  
  
"Ewww~! That's disgusting!"  
  
"Thanks for the input Shippou."  
  
"No problem. But in all seriousness get new clothes."  
  
"Why? So I can tear them up? Yeah right. I like my self repairing fire rat robes."  
  
"No way Inuyasha. When we go into town we're getting you new clothes." Spoken like a true woman Sango.  
  
"What makes you think I'm going to be sticking around here?"  
  
"Because if you don't we're going to tie you to Kaede-sama's house." Miroku said with a magically appeared rope ready in hand.  
  
And that's how I ended up back here. They call it Edo now. I remember Kagome calling it Tokyo though. . . oh well. Everyone changed over the time I was gone. It's kind of depressing for the fact that I don't like change.  
  
Miroku and Sango. . . huh, I don't know what Miroku said or did but now they're together. I don't know how far they have gone, nor do I want to know in detail, but knowing Miroku I'll get explicit details sometime in the near future. Sango still works as a taijiya, secretly though, because humans don't know about youkai anymore. And since Miroku is with her now as a couple he won't let her go alone. Always at her side. Sango always argues that she can do it alone but in the end she gives in and lets him tag along. In all honesty I don't think she minds that much. Miroku still says he's a monk following the way of Buddha. But his values or priorities haven't really changed. Now, instead of asking any pretty face if they would like to bear his child, he asks Sango three times a day at the very least and earns the equal amount of slaps. Nice to know that some things stayed the same.  
  
Kaede built herself a shrine. And guess what the shrine is called. Yup, the Higurashi Jinja. In the honor of Kagome. To think she lives in a shine that was named after herself. Does that mean Kaede is Kagome's ancestor? Probably not. I doubt Kaede is going to be having kids anytime soon. The Higurashi shrine that Kaede built, after waiting for a decade did not have any sakura blossoms. So I thought what the hey. I went and planted them all around the shrine. I guess I planted the sakura that Kagome smelled like.  
  
Kirara seems to be the only one that hasn't changed. Maybe she grew a little but that's it. Still as faithful as ever to Sango and just as protective. Miroku has a few scars of proof of that.  
  
Shippou, he's the one that changed the most. He grew up. Not just in height but also in nature. He's matured a lot. He's calmer now and processes things in his head before acting on instinct. He's skills in kitsune magic thingy stuff, whatever you call it, has also improved. He'll grow up to be one of the strongest, but due to his slow growth rate that may take a couple centuries for it to actually happen.  
  
I stayed with them for fifty years in that shrine. Fifty years is a long time to be stuck with these guys. The shrine was sold to a family with the actual family with the last name Higurashi. They had a little boy in the family that I could have sworn looked identical to Souta. I guess this is where Kagome's family line of living in a shrine started.  
  
One thing we realized: we needed family names. The people all now had family names and well everyone except me adapted one. The names goes as follows: Houshi Miroku, Taijiya Sango (soon to be Houshi probably), Kitsune Shippou, Mitsui Kaede, Mushigata Myouga, and Kirara is well. . . um. . . I don't know but maybe Taijiya Kirara? I'm not sure. Okay, I realized I needed one. The thing is I have to have the same last name as Seshoumaru or there is going to be so much more confusion than necessary. And so I set out to find my loving or not so loving brother.  
  
When I knocked on his door and saw Seshoumaru the first thing I heard from him was his warm welcome that I hear every time I see him, "What are you doing here little brother?"  
  
"Nice to see you too. Oh, and stop saying little brother with so much hatred. Makes it seem like you hate me."  
  
He rolled his eyes and averted his gaze, "Now we wouldn't want people thinking that do we. What are you doing here?"  
  
"We need a last name."  
  
"And I carry those around with me all the time." Sarcasm seems to be something we both inherited from probably our dad.  
  
"Can you check your storage closet to see if you have one laying around?"  
  
"I don't have any in my storage closet but let me check the pantry."  
  
"Stop mocking me. We really need one."  
  
"What is this business of 'we?'"  
  
"We're brothers we should have the same last name." I indicated by pointing to him then at me.  
  
"Why would we need the same last name?"  
  
"We have the same father!!!!"  
  
"Fine."  
  
"Arg! So do you have a last name?"  
  
"No."  
  
"What have you been doing?"  
  
"Going around as Seshoumaru."  
  
"No family name?"  
  
"Not necessary."  
  
"But I think I'll be needing one and so I don't run into problems in the future of our relation we should settle on a name."  
  
"Fine. Any suggestions?"  
  
"What was dad's name?"  
  
"Inutaishou? I wouldn't mind but you want to be called Inutaishou Inuyasha? Isn't that a bit too much inu?"  
  
"Uh, maybe not. What about Inuyoukai?"  
  
"Are you even listening? That would be Inuyoukai Inuyasha. That is way too much inu and your name would mean dog demon dog demon. If that doesn't draw suspicion or make you look like more of a freak I don't know what will."  
  
"Fine! If you're so smart what's your suggestion?"  
  
"Jin." (this is written with the character that means God)  
  
I looked at him flatly, "You sure think highly of yourself."  
  
"It's appropriate."  
  
"Since when?"  
  
"I could be considered a god."  
  
"To who? Jaken?"  
  
"Fine. How about Mori?"  
  
"Why Mori?"  
  
"I don't know. I'm getting bored of the conversation. Just pick a name already. I really don't care."  
  
"What if I choose Aho?" (aho means moron in Japanese)  
  
"Aho Inuyasha. Doesn't sound bad. But Aho Seshoumaru doesn't have a ring to it."  
  
I stared at him flatly again, "Screw you Sehsoumaru, screw you."  
  
"No thanks. Unlike you I actually get some."  
  
"Oh from Rin? How is she?" After Seshoumaru found out that his aging was altered but Rin's and Jaken's wasn't he threatened Amaterasu-sama. Only Seshoumaru would threaten a goddess. He didn't threaten Amaterasu-sama for Jaken, I think Seshoumaru got annoyed by him, I don't blame him. I think Jaken's dead, not really sure. When Seshoumaru got Amaterasu-sama to alter Rin's aging she was twenty. I'm not sure what exactly happened, but Seshoumaru ended up taking Rin as his mate. Since inuyoukai mate for life she's stuck with him, I feel sorry for her. So now Rin is my sister-in- law.  
  
"She's in the kitchen making lunch."  
  
"Awww. Seshoumaru living the married life. Maybe she has more sense than you when it comes to last names." I got up from where we were sitting in the sitting room and made my way towards to the kitchen with Seshoumaru close behind me. He's so freakin protective of Rin. (then again Inuyasha can't say much) From the doorway I could see that Rin was indeed making lunch. "Hey Rin."  
  
She turned around and the little girl that had always followed Seshoumaru around was gone. She was a grown woman with waist length hair, without the side ponytail, and just as cheerful. I don't know how she can deal with the not-so-cheerful Seshoumaru, must really love the guy.  
  
"Oh hello Inunii-chan! I haven't seen you in the longest time!" She ran towards me cooking chopsticks still in hand and gave me a bone-crushing hug. I heard growling from behind me and I had to peel Rin off me before Seshoumaru killed me. Rin didn't seem fazed by this. "Will you be joining us for lunch?"  
  
I looked at Seshoumaru for an answer he was shaking his head and giving me a look that promised me much pain. Logically I turned towards Rin and smiled and said, "Sure why not! Seshoumaru and I needed to come up with a last name anyways."  
  
A smack on the head by Seshoumaru to my head and helping Rin set the table later we were seated around the table.  
  
"So. . . um. . . got any ideas for a family name?" I inquired to Rin.  
  
"Why would you ask my opinion? It's yours and Sesho's name."  
  
"But since you're my brother's mate you'll be using that name too. And since he's a youkai and gonna live for a long time I doubt he's gonna let you go. In other words you'll be living awhile. It'll be your name for a long time too, so we should choose wisely."  
  
"Okay. What have you guys come up with so far?"  
  
Seshoumaru answered this question, "Inutaishou, Inuyoukai, Jin, and Mori."  
  
"Don't forget about Aho."  
  
"Shut up Inuyasha."  
  
"Don't tell me to shut up!"  
  
"Calm down Inunii-chan."  
  
"Why do you still call me that? You're technically a year older than me when it goes by body growth. Huh, that's kind of weird when you used to be like ten years younger than me."  
  
"You're still Inunii-chan." Her smile was blinding.  
  
"Can we get this over with?" Seshoumaru was pushing us now to choose, or more along the lines of trying to get rid of me.  
  
As I was slurping up my tororosoba I looked towards him and Rin.  
  
"Your guys' call."  
  
"How about Wan?" Rin asked with freakishly happy face.  
  
"Wan? Isn't that Chinese?" Seshoumaru responded to her question with another two questions.  
  
"I don't know about the Chinese, but Wan would be like 'wan-chan!' Wouldn't that be so cute?!" Rin answered with so much enthusiasm that I almost felt bad for bursting her bubble, almost. (wan-chan is like saying doggy in Japanese)  
  
"We are not going by the name Wan. Especially if it comes from wan-chan. Can't you think of anything better?" Rin knew I didn't mean that in an insulting way and continued smiling and thinking, but Seshoumaru is another story. Seshoumaru glared at me and growled. My inuyoukai instinct was telling me that I should be more respectful of the mate of an older sibling. With my years of learning how to read, studying the great scrolls I had an intelligent come back. "Keh." Yup. Amazing.  
  
There was silence as we all were thinking of a name, eating away at our tororosoba. Then I had a brilliant idea, or so I say so my self. "Touken."  
  
Seshoumaru looked at me skeptically. "Touken? 'Katana to ken.' Ano touken?"(translation: Touken? As in katana and sword?)  
  
"Chigau chigau aredayo shita no ji wa inu te kaku touken. Iijaneeka. Oretachi ni kekkouniau to omowaneeka? Naa Rin?" (translation: No, no I'm talking about the one where you use the character for dog at the end. I think it's good. Don't you think it suits us very well? Right Rin?) (Touken written with the character dog means 'fighting dog')  
  
"Touken. . . I love it! But I think we should write it with the characters Seshoumaru thought you were talking about. It'll be a play on words."  
  
Seshoumaru sudden said this: "Touken ga touken de tatakkata." (translation: Touken fought with a touken.)(a/n: in Japan that type of joke is considered incredibly lame that ppl might even run away from you. . . haha)  
  
Silence. Then a shivering Rin and me could be seen leaving the room. And that was the end of that meeting and deciding of our last name.  
  
Touken Inuyasha. I'm going to have to get used to it. At least we picked a decent name. Touken Kagome. I smiled at that thought. But then a thought came to me. What if she doesn't accept? I shook that thought out of my head. I have two hundred forty-five or so years left till I see her. There is no need to be pessimistic for the remaining time. Then another thought came to me; I would have to be able to provide for Kagome and myself when the time comes. That means I would have to work to provide money. I have no idea what I'm going to do, but I'm sure it'll work out.  
  
1981. . .  
  
And work out it did. Since Kagome was from Tokyo I chose to stay here, as did every one else. Sango continues her secret Taijiya escapades with Miroku still following like a lovesick puppy (along with Kirara of course). And trust me, even after a couple of centuries together (they decided to wait on kids though) they're still at it like it's new love. They're so freakin lovey-dovey that I might just get sick. But Shippou just tells me that I'm just jealous that I can't be like that with Kagome. What does a little kid know?  
  
Shippou being in a body of a twelve year old now shot up pretty well. I guess. 140cm. . . I guess it's better than how short he was before. He doesn't go to school. He can't, because no matter how much he was in there he wouldn't grow like the other kids and suspicion would grow. Also for the fact that within the five hundred years he did SOME studying and would like a child prodigy if placed into a normal school. He lives with Kaede who now owns an herbal shop. She keeps on saying that she doesn't trust modern medicine, which insults Miroku because he earned a MD and is now a doctor of general medicine (family doctor).  
  
Never really imagined the lecher as a doctor but I guess it suits him. When he said he wanted to go in to gynecology it was met with a resounding slap from Sango, so he decide to go into general medicine so he could treat our wounds when coming back from battle. Battle? Yup. The 'Underworld' or so all youkai call it now is like a gang society that humans don't know about. It's not like the normal gangs where we plan to take each other down and kill the head mobster. It's like an extremely exclusive club where youkai can only join. This society is also what keeps the other youkai in line and not go on a killing spree of humans. Myouga is the one with the information when it comes to the Underground. And thanks to him we have a few connections. Most of them useless, but connections nonetheless.  
  
The useful connections we do have are Seshoumaru and Kouga, as surprising as it may seem we have come to terms. Seshoumaru and Rin started an extremely successful company that buys, sells, and identifies ancient artifacts. They seem to have been collecting them through the years and since they've lived so long they have the skills to identify what era and purpose each artifact had. Kouga became a criminal lawyer, mostly for youkai. With the amount of trouble the Underground gets into, sometimes we clash with the humans and we end up going to court. I speak from personal experience. But the Underground has a lot of connections for we've got youkai everywhere. We had people in the police, in practically all companies, the education system, and well everywhere. We have a few in the imperial family as well, no one really knows how but dragon youkai made they're way into the imperial family. Since we're everywhere there are things we can get away with, for example Miroku doesn't have to go though medical school over and over just so his age doesn't seem to weird. Same goes for Kouga, he went through law school sixty years ago but no one knows that. The reason I say we when it comes to the Underground is because we're part of it, me being hanyou and all. Hanyou's are still rare so the youkai look down at me, but I have something that they need. A bank.  
  
That's what I started soon after I decided I needed a job. Banks were slowly beginning to develop in those times and I thought why not? I founded, own, and am the CEO of the Touken Ginkou. (translation: Touken Bank) Most if not all youkai in Japan have their bank accounts in Touken Ginkou. That's not to say humans don't have an account with us either because a great deal of them do. It's a huge bank and I live a comfortable life. Okay, I'm being modest. I live a VERY comfortable life. I'm just happy to know that I will be able to provide for Kagome, that's good enough for me. Kagome. . .  
  
I'm perched on a tree right outside a woman's hospital room she's asleep and there is no one in the room except for one person, a baby. Next to the woman in a plastic sterilized hospital crib is, in my opinion, the most beautiful and precious newborn in all of time. Wrapped in pastel pink blankets she never seems to cry. She woke up a few moments after I reached the tree to look in through the open window. She notices me from her angle in the room and gazes at me with her blue-gray eyes. She smiles and reaches out to me with her small hands. I carefully leap into the room so as not to wake the woman up. I stand over the generic hospital crib and brush my right index finger against the child's cheek. She coos and grasps my large finger in her small hands. I smile down at her, "Kagome. . ."  
  
I hear footsteps coming towards the room and I jump out the window back in the tree hidden from view. Seconds later an old man and a man in his late twenties come in with flowers. They notice that the woman, Mrs. Higurashi, asleep and carefully set the flowers next to her on the nightstand. It's the day they leave. Mrs. Higurashi and Kagome are getting out of the hospital today, they're stayed there for the customary week and a half. (ppl stay in the hospital longer in Japan than in the states after you give birth) I've been coming here everyday since Kagome was born. I can't get enough of her. What I hate the most is that I can't reveal myself, not that she would understand me, in the fear that it may alter history. The younger man makes his way over to Kagome and picks her up, cradling her like she is the most fragile jewel. Her father. I always wondered what happened to him. He seems like a nice guy; looks a lot like Souta, except older. The old man, Kagome's grandfather, starts packing things up and laying out Mrs. Higurashi's clothes. With the racket the old man was causing Mrs. Higurashi was stirred awoken. Mr. Higurashi (Kagome's dad) makes his way towards his wife's bedside with Kagome still bundled up in his arms. They talk and laugh, but I don't care about the words being exchanged, I just keep my eyes on Kagome. I feel like a cradle robber because I'm in love with that little girl in another man's arms, and this makes me slightly jealous but I remind myself that it's only her father. Mrs. Higurashi goes to the bathroom to change and when she comes out she gathers Kagome in her arms and leaves along with Kagome's father and grandfather.  
  
I follow their car home leaping from the top of rooftops. Predictably they make their way to the Higurashi shrine. As they climb up the steps I get nervous of what might happen if they slipped and Kagome goes tumbling down. When they reach the top I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. They go inside and lay her down in her room, at the moment her nursery. I stand in the Goshinboku tree and looked through the familiar window. Smiles adorn everyone's face and they make weird baby noises at her. They don't leave her for a while and when they do they leave a baby monitor. I leap to the tree that I used to always make my way from to get into her room in the past, err future. . . I have no idea. I slide the window open and stand like I did in the hospital next to the crib. I don't say anything to her in the fear that it'll get picked up by the baby monitor, so instead I pick her up. Carefully cradling her, supporting her head. I'm completely mesmerized as she is asleep and is drooling slightly, I force down a chuckle at that.  
  
This is the girl that I have been waiting for. Her bright blue-gray eyes, her smile that seems to brighten the room, and her smell. Granted she smells like diapers and baby powder but one whiff of her and you know it's Kagome. After holding her for five minutes I hear footsteps coming towards the room, probably to feed her or change her diaper. I set her down gently and leaped out the window the breeze ruffling the white curtains as the window was left open.  
  
1987. . .  
  
"Onii-chan!" A little girl of six years old scrambled to me and tackled me at the legs making me fall gracefully on my butt. (translation: Brother!)  
  
Her arms are wrapped around my torso and burying her face in my stomach giggling her head off. I ruffle her hair and pull her off me by grasping her on either side of her hips and set her down in front of me with her legs folded under her and I sit cross-legged in front of her. "Hey Kagome. How have you been? Been good for your mom and grandfather? Been taking care of Souta?"  
  
"Yup!" She puffed up her chest and fisted her hands on either side of her hips, she said this with so much pride I could help but smile.  
  
"Good. Well I'll be going now." I was pretending to get up and leave when she tackled me again.  
  
"No! You're supposed to take me for ice cream and give me a present!" She protested as she tugged at my hand.  
  
I chuckled and propped myself on my elbows as she sat on my stomach. "Now why would I go doing a thing like that?"  
  
She giggled, stood up, on my stomach mind you, and tugged my left hand with both of hers. "Because you love me and it's my birthday!"  
  
Don't look at me like that. I didn't confess my undying love to a six-year- old girl, she just started saying I did ever since the moment she knew how to talk. Every year since she was three I would give her a present and take her to have ice cream on her birthday. Neither her parents nor her grandfather minded because I had always prayed at their shrine for the past six years. They know me as just Touken, and I'm considered a family friend. I don't worry about them recognizing me when my past (?) self comes through the well because over the past five centuries I, along with the rest of the Underground, learned to use a concealing spell. My eyes were violet, hair black and short.  
  
I went to 'pray' at their shrine every three months and I would never leave until I at least said hi to Kagome, she is the whole reason I go anyways.  
  
1995. . .  
  
"Onii-chan!" A fourteen-year-old teenage girl tackles me and I go sprawling on the ground. She hugs me around the chest and giggles into my neck.  
  
I blush, chuckle and ruffle her hair. Pick her up by the hips sits in front of me legs folded under her and me sitting in front of her cross- legged. "Hey Kagome. Aren't you getting a bit too old for this?" I chuckle as she now blushes but she retaliates.  
  
"I'll never be too old for this! When a person stops acting like a kid is the point when they forgot how to live."  
  
"Wise words for kid."  
  
She pouts, "I'm not a kid!"  
  
"Yeah, yeah. Keep telling yourself that. Well I'll be going now."  
  
"No! You're supposed to take me for ice cream and give me a present!"  
  
"Now why would I go doing a thing like that?"  
  
"Because you love me and it's my birthday!"  
  
Yup. It's become like a ritual for us every year. Sure a few words in the dialog changed but most of it was the same. She tackled me every year yelling for her 'Onii-chan.' She now looked more like the Kagome that I knew from the past (?). Although looking a bit younger than I remember her she was as beautiful as I remember her. No, I am not lusting after her you sickos.  
  
I stood up and made my way down the steps with an enthusiastic Kagome trailing behind me. We made our way towards the same ice cream parlor we had been going to every year. We sat down at the same booth as always and ordered the same thing as always. She ordered a strawberry vanilla parfait and me with my cantaloupe milkshake. I was a bit more depressed than I usually am when I'm with her and I guess she noticed.  
  
"What's wrong Onii-chan? Are you not feeling well?"  
  
I smile; she's always worried about others. "No, it's not that. It's just that I'm going to miss you."  
  
"Huh? Are you going somewhere?"  
  
I looked at her sadly, I hate lying. "Yeah, I'm going to be moving away."  
  
"What?! You can't move away! Who's going to eat ice cream with me on my birthday?!"  
  
I chuckle; I've become more open with my feelings over the years as well. "I'm sure you'll find a good replacement."  
  
She looks at me shocked at the news as it was sinking into her. "Will you visit?"  
  
"Sorry. I'll be moving really far away."  
  
"How far?"  
  
"America."  
  
"Oh." She pocked her melting ice cream with her spoon. "Can I write to you?" She asked me with a slight blush apparent on her face. I think she started having a small crush on me when she found out that boys didn't have cooties. Heck, better have a crush on me than on another kid at school. I growled at that thought. "Are you growling?" Oops.  
  
"Uh. . . no? I had something stuck in my throat." He plastered an innocent look on my face.  
  
"So can I?"  
  
I forgot what we were talking about, "Can you what?"  
  
"Write to you?"  
  
"Uh. . . I don't know. . ."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I don't know my new address?"  
  
"What are you asking me for?. . . I'm going to really miss you. . ."  
  
"I'll be back you know."  
  
"When?" She looked down at her lap as she twined her fingers together.  
  
"Eight years."  
  
"Eight years?! What am I supposed to do for eight years?!"  
  
"What am I a form of entertainment?" I ask jokingly.  
  
"Yes!" She answers with a serious tone.  
  
"You're amusing. So. . . want your last present from me?"  
  
"Don't make is sound like you're dying." She huffed but still stuck her hand out waiting for my gift. I chuckle and place a small flat package in her hand. She eagerly rips the wrapper open and out falls a simple white handkerchief with her initials 'K.H.' embroidered at the corner in red. She seems a bit disappointed but nonetheless grateful and happy. "Thank you! I'll take good care of it!"  
  
"We're talking about a handkerchief Kagome, not a puppy."  
  
"Still! I love it! But why did you get me a handkerchief?"  
  
"I thought you might need one as you get older, since you're in chuugakkou (middle school) now. Were you expecting something different?"  
  
She blushed, "No. . ."  
  
I see the blush and smirk, "An engagement ring perhaps?"  
  
Her face is now completely red and she exclaims, "N-no!"  
  
I laugh at her and she gives up, face still red and finishes off her parfait. I finished my milkshake, paid the bill and we both headed out. As we were walking she asked me questions about where I'd be living and I made up stuff up to answer her. When we reached the shrine steps, where we always said good-bye on her birthday, before I could say my farewell, which I dreaded, she spoke up.  
  
"Can I. . . um. . . ask you. . ." Her sentence broke off there and I tried to be helpful and fill in the space.  
  
"For a pineapple? The meaning of life? How high a rabbit hopes?"  
  
"No!" She looked exasperated at me, but soon she looked at me shyly and smiled. "Can I ask you a favor? Like a last request?"  
  
How could I say no? "Sure."  
  
"Can I have a. . ."  
  
"Pogo stick? Mars? Hershey bar?"  
  
"A kiss?" She blushed extremely hard and looked down at the ground. I was frozen. Did she mean the chocolate or the real thing? Who am I kidding, she's asking for the real thing. Should I? I don't know. Isn't it a felony? I am twenty-four and she's fourteen. She peeked up at me through her bangs.  
  
"Why would you want that? You want to save your first kiss for someone special. You don't want an old guy like me taking that away."  
  
"But what if I want you to?!" She clasped her hands in front of her mouth as she realized what she just said.  
  
My intelligent answer: "Wha?"  
  
There was silence on her part, and mine as well, for some time until she brought up her courage. "Everyone says that the first kiss is the most important and memorable. I think I would be happy if I looked back on it from the future if I had kissed you instead of some boy at school."  
  
A vein pulsed on my head with that thought. "Like your friend Hobo?"  
  
"Huh? Who Houjo?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Yeah! I don't want a memory of him being my first kiss. And you're not an old man." She looked at me with pleading eyes.  
  
"Kagome. . ." I replied a bit troubled in what I should do. But she didn't give me time to think a bit more because she pulled me down by the front of my shirt and gave me a chaste kiss. She let go and ran up the steps to the shrine. I stood there blinking in shock, when I came to and looked up she was at the top of the steps about to get out of view. "Kagome!"  
  
She whirled around, "Thank you Onii-chan! I'll see you in eight years! Don't forget me!" Then she was out of sight.  
  
"How can I forget you?. . ." When I didn't forget you after all this time. . .  
  
2003. . .  
  
I didn't really leave Japan to go to America, I just couldn't see her while she knew about my past self. Knowing she's right across the city and unable to see her is killing me! I know it's been five years since she came back from the quest but I have no idea how to approach her. Exasperated I push myself in my rollychair in my office away from my desk and massage my temples. I look up at the high ceiling and from my angle I can see the window that takes up half my office. I swirl around, stand up and lean against the window. It's already getting cold outside, soon to be winter, and my breath fogs up the glass. This means that I could have revealed myself to Kagome three months ago. That was the five-year mark from when she came back. I have no idea what happened to her after she came back from the well for the last time. I couldn't take the risk of going to visit her or send someone. Miroku, Sango, Shippou, and Myouga have been getting on my case about going to see her. Kaede seems to be more understanding, she tells me to take as much time as needed. Kouga tried to meet her a couple times, claiming that he's Kagome's soul mate but after a battle with me he decided against that. He said that she would meet me not remember anything, and then he could go in and claim 'his woman.' Does he have a death wish? Probably.  
  
Leaning against the window I look outside seeing the busy streets of the financial district in Tokyo. Suddenly my intercom beeps on.  
  
"Mr. Touken?"  
  
"Yes Miss Imai?" My faithful forty-year-old secretary, she's a nice lady but sometimes she forgets to tell me a few things.  
  
"Your new employee is here." Like now.  
  
"What new employee?" I'm still facing the window amusing myself with fogging the glass and drawing happy faces with my finger.  
  
"The one you told me to hire."  
  
"When did I tell you this?" Because I have no memory whatsoever, I told you she's flaky.  
  
"Six months ago."  
  
"And why are they coming in now?"  
  
"Uh. . . I forgot to hire someone? But she's still good! She graduated top of her class at Tokyo University."  
  
I sigh, "She's a recent graduate?"  
  
"Haha. . . yeah."  
  
I sigh even louder to make a point to her, "Send her in."  
  
"Okay sir." She then speaks to the formerly mentioned new employee. "Mr. Touken will see you now. Don't let him scare you, he's really just a sweetheart."  
  
I growl, "You left the intercom on Miss Imai."  
  
"Oh dear. Haha. . . but it's the truth." With that she turns off the intercom and that's indicated with the beep to tell me she did so. I whip around to yell at her through the door when the door opens. Sakura and peaches meets my senses and their stands the new employee.  
  
"Kagome."  
  
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ A/N: I gave Kaede my last name because it means three wells. I thought it was appropriate because this fic concerns the past, present, and future. You know three wells. . . even though there are all the same one. No? Oh well. And I gave everyone else weird names. These are names that don't exist in Japan. Except Mushigata, never personally met one but I dunno cuz my gandfather's name was Hanagata. Oh well. I had so much trouble coming up with Inuyasha and Seshoumaru's last name. Nothing sounded right. Well press that button and review~!  
  
Thanks to the following reviewers: SilverArcher, Kurai Mori, Andrea Meiouh, mimiru3, BabbleQueen, carolynn, Snooptopian, and psycho king!  
  
Thank you all so much! This chapter is for you! 


	4. Inuyasha or Touken?

Author Notes: I started school, summer vacation and I have no time to write like I used to. I'll try my best, but I'll update less frequently from now on, maybe once every two weeks. I hope you enjoy this chappie! R&R!  
  
Disclaimer: Of course I own Inuyasha, I also own Cuba and I've skated on an ice rink in hell.  
  
". . ." dialogue '. . .' thoughts (. . .) author's useless commentary  
  
Inuyasha or Touken?  
By Hoshi-ni-Onegai  
  
#warning: cuss words come up here and there b/c that's Inuyasha's character and I tend to cuss in real life. . . sorry#  
  
There stood Kagome, matured over the years. She was no longer the awkward skinny teenager, but a woman who filled out nicely in all the right places. In Inuyasha's opinion she was breathtaking, then again he always thought that about Kagome. She was wearing a blue-gray blazer that hugged her curves, without being too tight, a matching same hue skirt, and instead of a button up shirt, she wore a simple white cotton spaghetti strap tanktop. She looked very professional in her clothes instead of the school uniform she used to always wear. Her hair was up in a tight bun, her bangs were slightly longer, the ones on the side longer than the rest framing her face. Her eyes held the same bright shimmer and the rest of her face; although the same, had changed a bit. Her face slightly more defined, the baby fat that most girls have was now gone. She wasn't heavily made up, although she wore some it still looked very natural. Over the years Inuyasha was wondering if Kagome would end up looking more like Kikyou, but it was the opposite. The five years of growing made Kagome look more like herself, if that makes any sense. When seeing her, the only thing that can be thought of was simply: Kagome.  
  
She smiled her bright smile and gracefully made her way up to the desk. Her movements were much more graceful than before, this was noticeable as she extended a hand over the desk to shake hands with Inuyasha. He didn't know exactly how to react so he dumbly took her hand and gave the standard professional handshake. "Hajimemashite, Higurashi Kagome to moushimasu." (translation: It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Higurashi Kagome). Letting his hand go she handed him a manila folder in which he took into his hand and he sat down. There was a moment of silence where Inuyasha was gazing at Kagome and she was still standing. "Um. . ."  
  
Her eyes glanced at the chair and Inuyasha finally understood, "Oh! I'm sorry, please have a seat. My name is Touken Inuyasha." Thankfully, she sat down and continued smiling.  
  
"Thank you so much for hiring me, Mr. Touken. Although it seems that your secretary chose me because she was rushing. . . but nonetheless I am extremely grateful."  
  
Seeing that Kagome didn't remember him at all, Inuyasha was crestfallen. Even though he became extremely depressed, he tried to act natural and friendly. "Why do you say that? Graduating at the top of your class would probably get you a lot of job opportunities." He said as he looked in the manila folder that contained her resume.  
  
"That's nice of you to say, but I wouldn't know. I was recruited for my last job, as I was for this job as well." She continued smiling.  
  
"But aren't you a recent graduate? This is already your second job?"  
  
Kagome started looking slightly uncomfortable which confused Inuyasha. "I graduated in April and a week later I was already working."  
  
"Where?"  
  
Now she was fidgeting in her seat, but it was unnoticeable to the average person. Then again, since when was Inuyasha average, especially when it came to Kagome? "Hitobito no Ginkou." (translation: The bank of the people)  
  
"You worked at HitoGin? (abbreviation) Why did you leave there? They're known to pay very well." Not that Inuyasha was complaining, because now she was working for him.  
  
"They pay their employee's well for a reason." She mumbled this under her breath.  
  
"What reason is that?" She whipped her head up, surprised that Inuyasha had actually heard that.  
  
"I would rather not say. . ." Her reluctance worried Inuyasha.  
  
"Okay, then why aren't you working there anymore?"  
  
"I quit." Kagome said that abruptly. Inuyasha smirked in the inside for he knew her mannerisms very well. Kagome used to always try and answer quickly with short responses when she was trying to hide something.  
  
"Can I know your reason for relinquishing your stay at HitoGin?" As can be told by his speech, it is obvious that his vocabulary expanded. Putting that aside, Kagome's behavior was becoming unusual. She avoided eye contact, pretending to admire the furnishings of the office. He could smell fear on her and became worried. "Ka-. . . Miss Higurashi?"  
  
Kagome finally looked at him, uneasy about what she was about to say. "I could not deal with the environment that HitoGin provided certain employees."  
  
"Environment? Are you just evading saying that they treated you badly?" He really began to worry. 'What kind of treatment would HitoGin be giving their employees? Kagome's not one to give up for any little thing.'  
  
"If I don't answer your question will I lose my job here?" Kagome said. Now he knew that she was definitely avoiding the subject, but he didn't want to push her. He didn't want to come off as creepy just yet.  
  
"No, you won't lose your job." Kagome gave a slight smile. Inuyasha was still wondering about her employment at HitoGin but he had to get down to business. "Miss Higurashi, do you know what part of the bank you will be working at?"  
  
Giving a sigh of relief for the change in subject she answered him, "Your secretary said that I will be working under a Mr. Williams. I was surprised at first that it was a foreigner, but then she informed me that he dealt with the major clients that do many transactions overseas. She also told me that Mr. Williams would be retiring soon and that they needed a replacement. She told me that my language skills was what set me aside from all the other applicants."  
  
"Oh! So you are that new employee I was waiting for. I really have to tell Miss Imai to speed things up around here. Because of that, I have to sadly inform you that Mr. Williams will be retiring in a month. Instead of the seven months I thought you would have to learn the ropes form him, now you have a month. Sorry." Inuyasha said sheepishly scratching his head with his finger just like he used to always do. Kagome saw this gesture and stared him as if thinking. Inuyasha saw her staring and became curious, "Do I have something on my face?"  
  
Kagome didn't blush because she was caught staring, she just kept right on staring. "Have we met before?"  
  
Inuyasha's heart skipped a beat or two. "Y-you remember?"  
  
Kagome stood up from her chair suddenly, "I knew it! I do know you from somewhere!" But then she slumped back in her chair, "But I would think I would remember someone with long white hair and gold eyes."  
  
Even with his concealing spell Inuyasha wanted to keep his hair and eye color. Sango told him that he would stand out but Inuyasha responded that he didn't care. When in reality he hoped that keeping some of his traits the same it would help Kagome remember, but his plan didn't seem to have helped much. He hid his ears with a spell, but kept his fangs and claws. Inuyasha didn't wear his red haori anymore, he now wore the typical Armani suit that most CEOs of companies wore. He missed his old clothes though, but again Sango made him wear modern clothing. Then aging he would stand out even more if he wore his old clothes.  
  
"So, where do I know you from Mr. Touken?" He was pulled out of zoning out when he heard her voice.  
  
"You should find out for yourself. It will be more rewarding that way." Inuyasha said this with a smirk.  
  
Suddenly something clicked in her brain and she stood up abruptly again, this time knocking her chair over. She pointed her finger at his face leaning over the table, balancing herself with her other hand by grabbing the edge of his desk. "I know that smirk from anywhere!" She threw her arms around Inuyasha's neck from across the desk. "Onii-chan!"  
  
Inuyasha was surprised by the sudden hug but circled his arms around her waist in automatic return. 'She remembers Touken, the one that took her to eat ice cream. She doesn't remember the Inuyasha that yelled at her to collect shards. Maybe we aren't soul mates. Maybe she doesn't want to remember.' Even so, it was nice to know that she remembered him in one way or another.  
  
She pulled away to be able to look at him in the face but her arms were still around his neck. "Why didn't you say anything?! You should have gone by the shrine if you had come back!"  
  
Inuyasha sadly smiled, "It was more fun if you figured it out. Sorry, I've been pretty busy so I wasn't able to go visit you at the shrine."  
  
Kagome let him go finally and pulled the chair she had been sitting on closer up to the desk. "Oh, I don't live in the shrine anymore. My mom, grandfather, and Souta still do though."  
  
"You live alone?" Inuyasha had expected for her to always live at the shrine near their well.  
  
She looked at him flatly, "I'm twenty-two years old, Onii-chan. I had to live on my own sooner or later. I live in an apartment with an old friend of mine. I've told you about him, you know Hojo-kun."  
  
Inuyasha froze, "Hojo? As meaning in a male human living in the same apartment as you? Just the two of you?"  
  
Kagome waved his concerns away with his hand, "It's really no big deal. We're not dating, he needed a place to stay and I needed someone to help pay rent. I had a spare bedroom, and so there he is living next to the bathroom."  
  
A vein could be seen pulsing on Inuyasha's head now. He grinded out the words, restraining himself from killing Hojo that very minute. "If I remember correctly he asked you out on a few dates. Aren't you afraid he'll rape you in your sleep or something?"  
  
Kagome looked at him with a serious face, "Too late." Inuyasha's eyes bugged out and was ready to kill, until he heard her laughing. "I'm just kidding Onii-chan! That's was funny though! Don't worry, Hojo-kun isn't the type to be a creepy rapper. Think about it. After I got out my coma, he gave me an already prepared two years worth of class notes and a non- cramping grip mechanical pencil. The only thing I'm afraid he'll do is smother me to death with weird alternate medicine novelty items."  
  
Inuyasha was pissed that a man was Kagome's roommate, the first thing on his to-do list was make Hojo move out. Then Kagome put in a fact that made Inuyasha VERY happy, "Besides, he's gay. We have this whole Will&Grace thing going. It's a lot like the show's story line. In middle school and high school we weren't all that close but we were best friends in college. He stopped being boring all of a sudden. We started dating, heck we even got engaged! Then I found him cheating on me with my friend Jun."  
  
"You fell in love with him?" Kagome had started looking around the office checking out the furnishings during her explanation, but with his question she faced him with a carefree expression. She was about to answer when the intercom beeped and Miss Imai's voice was heard.  
  
"Mr. Touken?"  
  
Inuyasha sighed in frustration, his time with Kagome was being interrupted. "Yes, Miss Imai?"  
  
"Mr. Williams says to send her down ASAP. He wants to get started because so much time was lost thanks to you."  
  
Inuyasha glared at the intercom, "But isn't it your fault that she came in six months late?"  
  
"Let's not point fingers or name names. The gist of it is that she came in late on her own fault and now she needs to go down to see Mr. Williams."  
  
Inuyasha was yelling at the intercom now, "But it was your fault! Not mine, not hers, YOURS!"  
  
"Yes, yes. Well Miss Higurashi can you here me?"  
  
A giggling Kagome answered, "Yes. I'll be right out." Then the intercom beeped, ending their conversation. Kagome smiled and bowed down to Inuyasha respectfully. "Well, Mr. Touken I'll be on my way to see Mr. Williams."  
  
She was reaching for the door handle and Inuyasha started panicking. He just had her back and he felt like he was losing her again. "Kagome!"  
  
She turned around smiling waiting for him to continue.  
  
"Uh. . ." He didn't know what to say. He had just blurted it out to make her stay longer. "um. . . uh. . . do you want to have dinner to catch up?"  
  
She smiled even brighter, "Sure, Onii-chan! Bye then!"  
  
And she left out the door before Inuyasha could tell her when and where. He shook his head with a smile on his face. Then he whipped his head up. "Coma?"  
  
__________________________________________________________________  
  
It was ten o'clock and the building was nearly abandoned, save for a few late night workers, security guards, and janitorial staff. Inuyasha was in the elevator on the way down towards his car on the second sub floor. As he was stretching, trying to get the cramps out of his arms the elevator doors opened three floors down from his office floor. In walked in a western looking foreign man in his mid sixties, he had gray hair, a kind face, and stood slightly taller than Inuyasha. The man noticed Inuyasha in the elevator and smiled.  
  
"Good evening Mr. Touken, or should I say good night? Working late as always I see." The man reached over and pressed the button for the first sub floor.  
  
Inuyasha smiled back tiredly and leaned against the elevator wall, "Hey Mr. Williams, how was your day?"  
  
"Can't complain, especially when I finally got the recruit to train. When Ms. Imai said that my replacement was here, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I had been waiting for her to arrive for some time now." Mr. Williams said with no malice held in his tone.  
  
Inuyasha sheepishly scratched his head, "Sorry about that. I asked Ms. Imai to hire someone six months ago but she forgot. Do you think you'll be okay with only a month to train her?"  
  
"That's alright Mr. Touken, I'm sure Ms. Imai didn't mean any harm. And I think we'll be just fine with a month, it will be pushing things a bit but with the person that was hired I think we'll do fine."  
  
"So Miss Higurashi is doing well?"  
  
"Very well! The moment she walked in through my office doors she has soaked up everything I need her to learn. She catches on very quickly and doesn't need things to be repeated twice. She very determined and a hard worker. I'm very pleased a person like Kagome-kun was hired to replace me."  
  
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow at that, "Kagome-kun?"  
  
Mr. Williams blushed at that, "She asked me to call her that, saying that since I was going to be with her so often for the next month it was futile to go by formalities. Even though she insisted on me to call her by her first name, she never slipped in giving me so much respect as to call me Mr. Williams. I told her to call me Evan, but she said that she must respect her superiors. When I called her Miss Higurashi she yelled at me. I like her, she's very cheerful and down to earth. Exactly what we need in this bank."  
  
Inuyasha smiled. 'That's Kagome all right. I guess she hasn't changed much.' His thoughts were interrupted when Mr. Williams spoke up again.  
  
"She is at her desk at this very moment still working. She was so determined to get some numbers done before she went home. I told her not to push herself on her first day but she just said that she had to cram in seven days worth of things in each day for her to be ready when I retired. I told her she was doing better than I expected and that she should be ready by then, even without working late nights, but she just said she wanted to finish off the numbers. And so she's still up there working at her desk." Right then the elevator door opened for Mr. Williams' floor. He stepped out and bowed slightly, "Good night Mr. Touken."  
  
Inuyasha straightened himself and returned the bow. The doors slid shut and he was soon moving towards his stop, which was one floor down. When the doors opened again he stared out for a moment contemplating something when he reached over and pressed the button for the thirty-seventh floor.  
  
"Evil computer! Windows too ancient to work! Arg! Die you evil leprechaun!" Kagome was standing over a computer at her desk yelling at it. Her desk was still bare, nothing there to indicate that it was hers. The computer she was using now was to be replaced by the end of the week, it was a temporary solution to her computer deprivation so she was saving everything into a CD-R.  
  
She raised her desk lamp over her head to hit the computer, in the motion of swinging down a hand sudden grabbed the lamp of her hand. She finished the swing when she noticed that the lamp was gone. She glared at the computer, "Now you're stealing my lamp?! Give me back my lamp you green midget!" (no offense meant towards midgets. . . is that even politically correct?)  
  
"Kagome?"  
  
By the sound of someone calling her name directly behind her she whipped around and there stood Inuyasha with an amused expression on his face. She noticed the lamp in his hand and exclaimed, "You stole my lamp!" She turned around to and bowed apologetically at the computer, "I'm sorry for blaming you when the true culprit was Onii-chan, but nonetheless you're destroying my files! Arg!"  
  
"Kagome?" Inuyasha tapped her on the shoulder.  
  
She brushed his hand away, "Not right now Onii-chan. I have to defeat this thing if I want to save anything." Suddenly she whipped out an ofuda and stuck it on the screen of the desktop computer. Inuyasha was surprised to say the least. Then a puff of green smoke came whirling out and the computer started making the noise it makes when it's saving a file.  
  
"What the hell was that?" Inuyasha pointed at the computer.  
  
"That was a leprechaun. Whoever spread the rumor that they're only Irish was stupid, because they enjoy attacking people's things so they don't work correctly. At least I get a new computer soon." The file was saved and she opened to CD drive and put the CD in a jewel case. Tucking that in her bag she turned around and smiled. "So what can I do you for Onii-chan?"  
  
"I was going to ask you if you wanted that dinner we talked about. . . but now I have more questions to ask you."  
  
Kagome glanced down at her watch, "It's 10:08pm right now, and I don't think anyone is open. I'll have to get a rain check on that dinner then."  
  
"We can eat at my place. . ." Inuyasha was reluctant to offer his place, because he didn't want to come off as creepy.  
  
"Sure! Let me just shut down my computer." She turned around, shut down her computer, and gestured him towards the door.  
  
As they made their way towards the door Inuyasha had many questions popping into his head. 'She knows about leprechauns? She can use ofudas? Why did she dismiss the topic like it was the weather?' Inuyasha just stared at Kagome while in the elevator as if she had grown a second head.  
  
Seeing his stares she protested, "What?!"  
  
Inuyasha continued to stare at her skeptically and decided to fain ignorance, "You're kidding about leprechauns right?"  
  
Kagome looked at him flatly let out a sigh and leaned against the elevator wall. She crossed her arms and blew her bangs out of her eyes. "Like you should be talking Onii-chan."  
  
Confusion was the state Inuyasha had been in since the moment Kagome walked in through his office doors that morning. "What do you mean?"  
  
She looked at him bored, "Don't act innocent Onii-chan, I know you're a inuyoukai hanyou."  
  
The said hanyou's eyes grew wide and he was speechless.  
  
Since it didn't seem like Inuyasha was going to respond she continued. "I didn't realize it the last time I saw you but you were a hanyou all this time! I mean I don't blame you that much for not wanting to tell me, because of the Underground and all."  
  
"How do you know about the Underground?!" Inuyasha was slightly angry, although the Underground was not an evil 'organization' he did not like the fact that she involved without him knowing.  
  
Kagome waved her right hand, gesturing that the subject was no big deal. "After I came out of my coma some weird stuff happened. I've encountered with a couple youkai here and there, some were even in my college dorm. I have my connections here and there, but I'm not what you might call a full- fledged member of the Underground."  
  
"About this coma you keep talking about. . ." He trailed off allowing her to pick up on what he was saying.  
  
Kagome looked at him confused, "You don't know about my coma? Weren't you there when I woke up though?" Inuyasha shook his head. "Really? The thing is, when I woke up from my coma the first thing I said was the name 'Inuyasha.' When you said your name was Touken Inuyasha I just assumed maybe you visited me while I was in the hospital and talked to me. . . but then why didn't I remember Touken?"  
  
Inuyasha was getting more confused by the second, "Why would you think I visited you? Wouldn't you have remembered?"  
  
Kagome shook her head, "Nope. Right after I woke up my memory and state of consciousness was somewhat fuzzy for forty-seven days. Because of that hazy period right after I woke up I keep on thinking I was on a quest, trying to get something back that I broke. I remembered a white haired guy named Inu-something, but I thought it was an old man. The only way I found out the real name was because when I woke up Souta was in the room and heard me say 'Inuyasha.' He also mentioned that I was crying, but I don't remember any of it."  
  
A silence fell upon the two as Inuyasha stared at Kagome in shock. 'She remembers bits and pieces of it, she only thinks it was a dream.' The elevator doors opened indicating that they reached the floor to Inuyasha's car. Kagome casually stepped out of the elevator, seeing that he wasn't following she gestured him forward. He slowly made his way towards her, then led them to his car.  
  
Seeing his car Kagome gasped, "You own a Jag?!"  
  
Pulled out of his state of shock he glanced down at his car as if noticing it for the first time, "Huh? Oh, this? Did you expect a Porsche?"  
  
"No, its just that I didn't think you would own a Jag. I always imagined my Onii-chan driving a busted up Toyota. This is a change in my perspective of you." She looked at him and smirked, "You're cooler than I thought."  
  
The smirk surprised Inuyasha. 'She smirks? Since when? Kagome is supposed to smile, not smirk, smirking is entirely my department. Although. . . she does look really hot. . .'  
  
Without consent or asking, she swung open the passenger door and slipped in, mindful of her skirt. A few seconds later he noticed that he had been daydreaming and got into the driver's side blushing slightly.  
  
"Where to?" Inuyasha asked putting the key in the ignition.  
  
Kagome looked at him flatly, "Is the old age catching up to you or something? We're going to your house remember? Restaurant closed, rain check, food at your house?" Inuyasha let out his famous 'keh' and pulled out of his parking spot. "You're getting senile old man."  
  
Inuyasha glanced at Kagome as she was looking out the window, "What do you mean 'old man,' we're not that much in age you know."  
  
Kagome continued looking out the window, "If you call twenty years not much, I want to know what you consider massive."  
  
"Twenty?"  
  
Kagome now turned in her seat to face him, "Yeah, you're forty-four right?"  
  
That made Inuyasha almost swerve off of his side of the road, "Forty- four?! Do I look forty-four to you?!"  
  
"No, actually you look sixty-six, but I didn't want to be rude."  
  
"Sixty-six?! What, are pulling these numbers out a hat?!" Inuyasha did not enjoy the prospect of being thought to be that much older than Kagome, it made him feel like a cradle robber or had a Lolita complex.  
  
Kagome just sighed, "You are hanyou so I'm just going by past references. In human terms you look about twenty-fiveish."  
  
He gave out a sigh of relief, "Good, but I'm really twenty-four."  
  
Kagome shook her head and chuckled, "I miss by one year and you're correcting me, you're so vain."  
  
"And how old may I ask are you?" Inuyasha didn't even need to ask. When it came to Kagome he prided himself in knowing a lot about her, except for what occurred in the past five years.  
  
"Twenty."  
  
Inuyasha was the one to chuckle this time, "Look who's calling who vain. Don't lie Kagome, you're twenty-two."  
  
Kagome smiled, "You remembered! But in all reality I think I'm twenty, because I didn't get to live for two years. So I decided to subtract those years from my total sum."  
  
"You didn't live of two years?"  
  
"You know, the coma." She stated as if it was the most obvious thing and that Inuyasha was off in the head for not figuring it out.  
  
"Okay, about this coma. How the heck did you get into it?" He glanced at her but soon returned his eyes back to the road.  
  
"A year after you left, on my fifteenth birthday, Buyo ran into the well house and when I went after him Souta came up behind me. He scared me and I fell, I guess I hit my head or something because I went into a coma. The doctors thought that it was weird that I went into it, the worst they expected was for me to have a concussion and temporary amnesia."  
  
Inuyasha finally pulled up to his apartment and drove into his parking space. She was about to step out of the car when he grabbed her right wrist. She turned her head towards him and smiled, he was still buckled up and staring straight ahead. "What's wrong Onii-chan? Aren't we here?"  
  
'Why don't you remember me?' Inuyasha shook his head and let go of her wrist. He reached to unbuckle his seatbelt, "Never mind. . . Yeah, we're here."  
  
"Um. . . Onii-chan?" Kagome asked from the kitchen as Inuyasha was getting changed out of his suit in the bedroom.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Why do you only have ramen? On top of that it's instant cup ramen." Inuyasha walked into the kitchen, wearing a pair of baggy jeans and a white t-shirt, where Kagome was looking through the cupboards for some form of food. "Don't get me wrong, I like the stuff too, but I don't live by it."  
  
"Don't blame me, you're the one that got me hooked on it." He pulled out a stool and sat next to the island in the kitchen. He was drumming his claws on the marble as he observed her.  
  
Kagome looked at him quizzically, "I got you hooked? What are you talking about? I never ate instant ramen with you. You're so weird sometimes." She turned around and continued to rummage through the cupboards.  
  
'Oh yeah. . . that was a memory with Inuyasha, not Onii-chan. . . a memory she no longer has. . .' He looked sadly at Kagome as she made her way towards the pantry. She was about to turn the knob when Inuyasha tried to stop her but it was too late.  
  
"Ahhh!!!" A pile of instant ramen came pouring down on her like a tidal wave. Thankfully, there were no casualties.  
  
Inuyasha was at her side in an instant (like the ramen). "Are you okay?! Shit! I knew I should have locked that door."  
  
As she was trying to get her wits back together Kagome spotted a package of "Chicken Ramen." (a brand of ramen in Japan that uses little animated chicks as advertisement)  
  
"Ah ha! I knew you would have a pack of this some where!" She leaped up, headed for the stove, and started to boil water. Inuyasha shook his head and started to pick up the natural disaster that is instant ramen. "Don't you have any vegetables or meat to put in the ramen? You have nothing in here except for beverages." Kagome was leaning over looking through his fridge now.  
  
"You put vegetables in those? Wow, I've got to try that some time."  
  
Kagome looked flatly at him and sighed, "You're hopeless, a sixty-six year old hanyou that can't cook. With that kind of bio, you'd have to marry a nice girl that can cook you a decent meal. I'll have to fix you up with a friend of mine, she's like a Japanese Martha Stuart, except for whole back taxes thing."  
  
She was opening up the packets for the ramen and dumping the noodles into the boiling pot when Inuyasha spoke, "Are you good at cooking?"  
  
Kagome reached for some cooking chopsticks that were next to the stove and started stirring the noodles to get them loose in the water, "Huh? Uh. . . I guess you could say that. . . my mom said that I needed to learn, when I told her she was being sexist putting the typical female role onto me, Souta started learning the next day. Souta's pretty good, but then he'd have to be, his girl friend is an awful cook."  
  
"If you can cook why can't I marry you?" Inuyasha said, frightened of what her answer might be.  
  
Kagome turned around, chopsticks still in hand. "Aww~! That's so cute! That's so sweet Onii-chan, remembering my stupid major crush and all." She turned back around looking over the contents in the pot, "But you don't have to worry about me. . . I don't want to get married for a very long time."  
  
He could have sworn that he heard his heart break. 'Your stupid major crush. . .' Then again this was Inuyasha, he had an ego the size of an elephant, he could swing back from any blow to try again. . . later. "Why don't you want to get married for a long time? Did something happen?"  
  
Kagome froze but she resumed a moment later in stirring, "Hey Onii-chan where are the bowls?"  
  
"In the cupboard next to you on the left. Why don't you want to get married?"  
  
Kagome started pouring in the contents of the pot into the two bowls, "Are you really hungry? I could give you mor-" Her words were cut off when she felt Inuyasha's hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Did something happen?" By the tone of his voice one could tell that he was worried, worried for her emotional stability.  
  
She sighed put the empty pot down and picked up the two bowls and took them over to the island. Evading Inuyasha as she went searching for the chopsticks.  
  
"Why aren't you answering my question Kagome? Did something happen?"  
  
She found the chopsticks used for eating in a drawer and made her way back to the island. "Let's eat Onii-chan, you know how ramen stretches." (ppl in Japan say that ramen "nobiru" which directly translated means stretches. . . it does, and it starts tasting not as good)  
  
"What is it that you can't tell me?"  
  
She sat down without a word and started slurping up her ramen. He sighed and pulled up a stool to join her. (you slurp ramen, it is not considered bad manners, it is actually considered a compliment)  
  
As she was halfway through her ramen she suddenly stopped. No longer hearing the slurps coming from Kagome he turned his head toward her and what he saw surprised him. She bent over the bowl, chopsticks midway to her mouth, her hair covering her face, and ripples were forming in the ramen broth. The tears that were slowly making there way down her cheeks kept on splattering into the broth. The salty sent of her tears took Inuyasha back to the memories of when she cried. When she used to cry because of something stupid he said, when he hurt her with his words and actions. The way they seemed to always come, as if on cue, when she spotted him with Kikyou. The way she would leave him to go to her time, and she would be crying because he said the wrong thing again. But what he remembered the most when she cried for him. All the times she thought she may lose him, and would cry for him. She would cry for the sheer happiness of seeing him at rare times. The memory that stuck the most was when she shed a single tear that spoke so much. So much of her pain, sadness, loss, and love. The single tear that had rolled down her cheek when they said 'good-bye' for the last time, five hundred years ago. There were so many unneeded tears that were shed for him, so much pain he caused. He knew what he had to do. Inuyasha quickly got out of his stool and pulled Kagome into an embrace, promising himself: 'I'm going to make it all up to you.'  
  
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ A/N: I know that the honorifics I use in this fic switch from Japanese to English like there is no tomorrow but please bare with me!  
  
Funaru Kutsuteru: Thank you for reading both my fics! I've been busy and unable to update with the start of school and everything but I hope I don't lose you as a reader during the time it takes me to update.  
  
Andrea Meiouh: I loved your multiple 'wow's they made me smile. I'm sorry the update was slow but it's going to be like that for a while with school and evil classes. Sorry.  
  
Me!: I carried the reader through the story? I always think my writing reads kind of choppy, but thank you for saying that.  
  
Babble Queen: Sorry about the cliffie, but if your read a few chapters into my other fic as well u see that I'm a cliffie obsessed person. I love cliffies!  
  
Psycho king: I'm sorry that my last chapter upset you in the fact that it was all "small pointless details" but I had to put that stuff in or I could get the story going, it won't be like that all the time. I'm just setting up the story.  
  
Kurai Mori: I look forward to you reviews all the time! They're so amusing and they make my day! By the way, Shikon no Kakera means shard of the shikon jewel. Inunii-chan isn't feminine, but it makes the two ppl seem very familiar with each other. Tororosoba is a type of noodle that has this root paste on it, it's sooooo good~! Onii-chan would not be insestual b/c ppl say that to older guys they know that they know VERY well. Even though it means brother, it doesn't always mean so. Thanks for your super long review! I luved it!  
  
Kyaa Kyaff: Thank you for reading this fic two, I think ur the third person that now reads both of my fics! Thank you so much! Although my review thingy doesn't work I would like to say that I luv ur fics!!!!!!!!! I would review but it keeps on messing up, sorry.  
  
Tokyo Nights: I updated!  
  
Inuyashafan: We're back to third-person omniscient. The Inuyasha POV was only temporary. Sorry to leave you on a cliffie, but I love writing and reading cliffies!  
  
Morlana: Thanks for your review! And I hope this chapter answered your question on what Inuyasha looks like. 


	5. Him'

Author Notes: I'm sorry for not updating in a long time, but my other fic needed some attention and I have a bunch of evil classes that love to kill their student with homework. I know this fic isn't doing very well popularity wise, but I hope to continue it. It would be greatly encouraging if you would leave me a review, because I don't know if anyone actually like this fic or not. The reviewers I have now, thank you so much. Although you are small in number, you are big on impact. I hope to you enjoy this chapter.  
  
Disclaimer: Inuyasha & co. doesn't belong to me. . . but he is Japanese. . . like me. . . does that count? No? oh, ok. . . *cry*  
  
". . ." dialogue '. . .' thoughts (. . .) author's useless commentary  
  
'Him'  
By Hoshi-ni-Onegai  
  
#warning: cuss words come up here and there b/c that's Inuyasha's character and I tend to cuss in real life. . . sorry#  
  
Inuyasha kept Kagome in the strong embrace for a long moment. Her sobs were racking through her body and he tried to calm her down by stroking his right hand through her hair.  
  
"What's wrong Kagome? Did something happen?" Inuyasha was showing a side of him that was practically nonexistent five hundred years ago, he was showing compassion.  
  
Kagome frantically shook her head, "It's stupid."  
  
"It's not stupid if it makes you this upset." He pulled back from the hug, far enough so that he could brush away the tears from her face. "You know you can tell me anything."  
  
Kagome hesitated, "You won't laugh?"  
  
"I would never laugh at you." He cupped her cheek with both of his hands and his thumbs stroked her cheeks, wiping away the tears that had yet to completely cease.  
  
"Liar." She pouted and looked the other way.  
  
Inuyasha turned her face to lock eyes with her and said in a serious tone, "I would never lie to you either."  
  
Kagome's eyes widened then they softened and a tear slipped down her right cheek. This time, instead of wiping it away with his thumb, Inuyasha leaned and kissed the tear away. 'Kagome. . .' He pulled the surprised Kagome into his embrace once again and whispered into her ear, "Now tell me, what happened?"  
  
She gave a light squeeze then moved away from him, turned around and picked up her bowl. She made her way wordlessly to the other side of the table to pick up Inuyasha's empty bowl. Setting them both in the sink she sighed, turned around, and walked toward him. She grasped his hand into hers and tugged him towards the living room.  
  
"It's a long story, let's go sit down on your couch."  
  
She padded her way into the living room, her bare feet touching the cold tile floor of the kitchen and the hardwood of the living room. Under the coffee table and couch was a lush gray carpet that protected the coldness of the floor to her feet. Inuyasha followed diligently behind, never falling out of step with her small ones. He glanced down at the two hands that were joined together as she pulled him to the black leather couch. 'This is the way it's supposed to be. . . not far away, together.'  
  
Kagome gently pushed him into one side of the long couch, letting go of his hand, and she sat at the other end. She brought her feet up off the floor and folded them in front of her, resting her arms to hug her knees to her chest. She looked straight ahead at the big screen TV that was situated in the room, as if watching something intently; even though, the TV wasn't even turned on.  
  
"Kagome?" Inuyasha scooted a little closer to her, only a little, about two centimeters.  
  
"It all started a year after you left Onii-chan, exactly a year after you left. . . Like I said before, I fell down the well on our family shrine and went into a coma, on my fifteenth birthday no less. I woke up two years later, the last thing I remembered was calling for Buyo in the well house. From what Souta tells me, I woke up in the hospital bed calling out 'Inuyasha.' When Souta called my name to get my attention, I turned to him and I was crying. They say I was like that for forty-seven days. I would cry for no reason, tell people I didn't want to be a miko, and say I would give up everything to see 'him.'"  
  
Inuyasha took a sharp breath and stared at Kagome as she laid her chin on her knees. "W-who's 'him.'"  
  
Kagome tilted to her chin to glance at Inuyasha but soon faced the TV again, "I don't know. . . At first my mom thought that it might have been a boyfriend I had before I went into the coma, the thing is if there was a boyfriend I don't remember. The doctors concluded that the long period of not using my mind made it jumble some stuff up."  
  
"Do you think that's what happened?"  
  
"I guess so. . ." She paused as if she was contemplating something then continued, "Well, when I woke up I was 17, meaning I should have already finished my first year of high school. The thing was that I wasn't awake for two years so I was behind. My mom said that I should just repeat the years, but I didn't want to. And so I buried my self in books. I studied nonstop, I went to two jukus a day, I was doing four years of studying in two years. I ended up graduating at the top of my class and I passed the entrance exam for Tokyo University." (juku is like a cram school)  
  
"The top of your class? Wow, even though you missed two years? I knew you liked your 'tests' but I didn't know to what extent."  
  
Kagome looked at Inuyasha quizzically, "I don't like tests, I don't think anyone does. I do them because I have to, not because I want to. You know that, you've been to school." She looked back toward the direction of the TV, "Anyways, I got into Tokyo University and that's where I met Hojo-kun again. We were in middle school and high school together, but since I was studying so much I didn't really get to know him. But when we got into college that was a different story. I was double majoring in business accounting and in English, while he was majoring in architecture. Because of our majors we both had a lot of our math classes together, and so we saw each other a lot. We ended up hanging out after class with our group of friends and I guess we just kind of clicked. He asked me out freshman year, saying that he's had a crush on me since middle school. I was hesitant at first but I said yes. . . Thinking about it now, maybe that was my mistake right there."  
  
"Why do you say that?" Inuyasha was getting jealous but he tried to hide it.  
  
"Because. . . I felt alone. After I woke up from the coma I felt like I lost a part of myself, that I was missing something. Sometimes I would be talking to someone then I would turn to make a comment to someone next to me, as if I was expecting someone there to be by my side. I kept on thinking that there should be someone standing there next to me, as my friend, protector, love. . . I thought maybe I just felt lonely because I was single, so I decided to go out with Hojo-kun. It got easier I guess, the empty feeling was still there, but I was distracted with school and Hojo-kun."  
  
"You were afraid of being alone?"  
  
"Maybe. . . but I think it wasn't more the fact of me being afraid to be alone, but being left without a certain person. Not just any guy, but someone specific. Even so, things went well with Hojo-kun. We went out on dates, talked on the phones, you know, the usual boyfriend-girlfriend stuff. There was one thing that I didn't do that most people my age did."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Sex." She answered it casually.  
  
"What?!" Inuyasha was blushing like mad, he was never the one to speak so straight forward about it. On top of that, the topic was of sex and Kagome, a combination that made him blush even more.  
  
"Don't laugh Onii-chan, but I'm still a virgin." Now Kagome was the one to blush and Inuyasha, although still blushing, had a smile upon his face.  
  
"Why would I laugh at a thing like you being a virgin? It's okay if you're saving yourself until marriage. A lot of guys like that in their future wives."  
  
Kagome peeked at Inuyasha as she still faced the TV, "Who said anything about saving myself? It just never felt right with Hojo-kun, and he took it as me just not being ready. That should have been my hint, but I was blind. During the Christmas of my senior year, he proposed. He said the four years of us dating made him see that he couldn't live without me. I didn't know how to respond to that, so I told him I'd think about it, again he understood. After contemplating it for a week, I gave my answer to Hojo- kun. I said yes."  
  
Inuyasha gazed down at the floor with a broken-hearted expression, his eyes hidden behind his bangs. "Did you love him?"  
  
She let a moment of silence fall but soon answered, "I thought I did. I thought that maybe Hojo-kun would be able to fill in that empty void, that I would no longer be alone. . . We made a mutual agreement to wait until we graduated to get married, so we were engaged for four months. We broke off the engagement in April, because that's when I found him cheating on me. What came more of a blow to me was that it was with my other guy friend, Jun."  
  
"I'm sorry." Inuyasha was sorry about her emotional struggle, but happy that the Hojo guy he had felt threatened by happened to be gay.  
  
"Yeah. . . I'm not mad at Hojo-kun or anything, I mean I'm mad he cheated on me but I guess if he favors a certain equipment that I don't have, I wish him all the best. But. . ."  
  
"But?"  
  
"I can't help but feel that I turned him gay." I tear rolled down her cheek, but was out of Inuyasha's view. Nevertheless, he could smell it with his keen senses.  
  
"Why would you say something like that?" He scooted closer to her.  
  
"He was my first boyfriend and I couldn't help but think the worst. Did I repulse him so much that he denied all females? Am I that unattractive? Was I not good enough?"  
  
Inuyasha cupped her chin and made her face him, "No, you're not good enough."  
  
She looked at him flatly with pain evident in her eyes, "Gee thanks, now that just confirms it."  
  
"I think you're too good for him. There is someone out there, waiting for you. That's who you belong with, not Hobo."  
  
Kagome gave a slight smile, "His name is Hojo."  
  
"That doesn't matter. Move on and go find your someone. He's waiting for you." They stared into each other's gaze for long moment, neither of them looking away.  
  
She let a smile come to her lips and brought her hand up to wipe the tear away, "You're right, I will find him." She stood up and made her way towards the door.  
  
"Where are you going?" Inuyasha asked, not moving from his place on the couch.  
  
"Home. I still have work tomorrow, as do you." She was slipping on her high heals when Inuyasha came up next to her and pulled on a pair of sneakers.  
  
"I'll take you back to the office, you shouldn't be taking a cab so late at night."  
  
"Why the office?"  
  
"Isn't that where your car is?"  
  
"No, I ride the train to work."  
  
"Then I'll take you to your apartment."  
  
She smiled as she pulled on the blazer that she had taken off upon arriving at Inuyasha's. "Thanks Onii-chan."  
  
"No problem." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They reached Kagome's apartment in short time. As they were pulling up she asked him, "It's 11:30 right now, Hojo-kun would still be up. Do you want to come up?"  
  
"Sure." He parked his car in the guest parking lot at the front of the apartment and made his way up on the elevator with her. "So, even after the whole situation you guys were in, you live together?"  
  
"Yeah, I know it's kind of weird but like I told you, we have this whole Will&Grace thing going. We're still really close friends, and we don't let our past effect our friendship."  
  
The moment the elevator door opened Inuyasha felt and smelt it. Kagome's apartment was right across from the elevator and she started unlocking the door. As she swung the door open she froze. What she saw in their made her scream, but that was drowned out as Inuyasha quickly whirled her around and pulled her head into his chest to hide what was in front of them from her.  
  
The walls were painted red with blood and body parts were carelessly tossed to all parts of the room. There was no sign of struggle, it seemed as if whatever had done it had taken time out to perfect the gruesome scene. The door immediately opened to the living room and the wall directly in front of the door was the blood-painted mural. The head had been decapitated, now it was forcefully nailed onto the wall. The ears, pulled back and spiked through; the jaw hanging open as a rusty thick nail was jammed through the back of the skull and into the wall. Above the head was written in blood: "Omae no kokoro wo itadaku." (translation: I will take your soul)  
  
Kagome was crying, screaming, and beating on Inuyasha's chest. "HOJO- KUN!!!!!"  
  
"Kagome!" Inuyasha tried getting her attention but she was still in her own horrifying world with the image of the living room imprinted in her mind.  
  
That's when he sensed something was still in the room. At the last moment he tightly grasped Kagome and leaped out of the way of a razor sharp tentacle. Inuyasha whirled around, shielding Kagome from the strange youkai. "What do you want?!"  
  
"Isn't it obvious? My master desire's her soul."  
  
"What the hell does your master want with my Kagome's soul?!"  
  
The disgusting creature that looked like a mix of a lizard and scorpion grinned, "She is not yours, I do not smell your connection. She is open market."  
  
Inuyasha raised his claws ready to swipe down. "She is not an object!" His claws easily tour the youkai in half as it continued laughing until the last moment of its life.  
  
He whirled around to check on Kagome. She sat there with her back against the wall, her eyes wide, lips moving but no sound coming out.  
  
"Kagome?" He carefully made his way towards her.  
  
When he rested his right hand on her right shoulder her eyes grew even wider and shown with white light. Inuyasha was in a state of shock on what to do. As quickly as her eyes shown the light soon faded and she fainted forward. Inuyasha diligently caught her before she fell into the blood that had pooled on the floor from Hojo and the youkai.  
  
"Kagome?!" She didn't respond, but her body started convulsing. It looked like she was having a seizure. Inuyasha quickly scooped her up in his arms and ran toward the room that smelled the most like Kagome, just as he had thought it was her bedroom. He laid her down on her bed as she continued to spasm. "Oh God Kagome?! Wake up! Come on! Please! I don't want to lose you again!"  
  
Abruptly the spasms ended, and Kagome now lay upon the bed as if she was in a peaceful sleep. Inuyasha checked to see if she still had a pulse, when he felt a strong one he relaxed. 'What was that?'  
  
Feeling the pressure of someone's hand against her neck Kagome stirred and her eyes slid slowly opened. Her vision was blurry, but when the objects in front of her went into focus the first thing she saw were amber eyes. They were looking into her own with worry. She noticed the white hair that framed the face of the person. She could not recognize him, she was searching through her brain for any possible identification. When her eyes slid up further to look atop the head of the person the area above him wavered. It was like a mirage was clearing and she could finally see the truth. A moment later she gasped. What she saw on top of the person's head were white triangular-shaped dog ears.  
  
Kagome extended her hand to try and reach for the ears. "Inu?" (translation: dog)  
  
Right when she was only a few millimeters away she pulled back her hand to grasp it at her head. She cradled her head in both of her hands, her mouth opening to give out a silent scream from the pain, and her eyes tightly shut. Inuyasha once again felt useless, he didn't know what to do. The person he had been willing to wait five hundred years for was in pain and there was nothing he could do. He started threatening the thing that was causing her pain by promising excruciating a death.  
  
Then, suddenly, Kagome snapped her eyes open and panted. A thin layer of sweat was upon her brow and she took a few minutes to catch her breath. When she did, she looked up and saw 'him.'  
  
The 'him' that she had been willing to give up anything to be with. The 'him' that had comforted her in her dreams, but haunted her with his absence in the day. The 'him' she had been looking for. The 'him' that would get rid of the emptiness she felt. The 'him' that she was destined to meet again and again. Her soul mate.  
  
I single name fell from her lips as she gazed wide-eyed, "Inuyasha."  
  
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ A/N: Oh, about Hojo being gay. . . I just needed him to be gay cuz then there would be way to much conflict. PLEASE do not think I am homophobic or anything! I did not kill Hojo off because of that! One of my best friends is gay and I love him to death! (like a bro that is) and I don't hate Hojo, I think he's a moron and clueless sometimes but so is Inuyasha (when it comes to Kagome). Also I don't hate Kikyou either, but I feel like I might end up bashing her or something because I am a strong supporter of KagomeXInuyasha. As you can tell, Kikyou will not be making an appearance in the fic as a character (remember, she's a flower now). The only person I truly HATE in this series is Naraku. I'm the type that always falls in love with the protagonist and grows a deep hatred for the antagonist. It's amazing that I even like Seshoumaru, but then I saw his good side when he starts taking care of Rin, and I think Inuyasha as well, but indirectly. (now THAT was a run-on sentence)!  
  
CheesieCake: Thank you for taking time out of your day to read my fic! Both of them! I hope to see you in future chapters!  
  
Andrea Meiouh: Your wish came true, Kagome remembers. . . well at least we know she knows his name. . . but the rest will come in the future chapters~!  
  
Ryoko.Kilala: You love my fic? Now isn't that a bit of exaggeration? But thanks, it made my day!  
  
Me!: I updated and now we see it continue~  
  
Zero: I hope to finish this story, but that a long ways away. I'm guessing about twenty to thirty chapters~  
  
G-Girl: I will keep going~ I'm glad you like it!  
  
Inuphoria: I'm on your favorites list?! Thank you so much! I feel so honored! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and that I didn't disappoint you~!  
  
Kurai Mori: I love your review! Can I emphasize that enough?! They make me laugh every time and they are always very encouraging! Well I hope you liked that chapter, and the one for Kenshin too~  
  
Funaru Kutsuteru: Thank you for reviewing and I'm glad I won't lose you as a reader. PHEW *wipes brow*  
  
Until next time~ Jaa nee~! 


	6. Similing Photographs

Author Notes: I'm very sorry for the delay but I just kept on writing this chapter and it just didn't seem quite finished. . . I still don't like how it ends. . . but I hope that will let me get into the plot form now on. . . R&R~!  
  
Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Kagome. Miroku belongs to Sango. Seshoumaru belongs to Rin. Kirara belongs to Sango. Shippou belongs to. . . um. . . Kaede belongs to. . . uh. . . Myouga belongs to. . . huh. . . if no one claims these can I have them?  
  
". . ." dialogue '. . .' thoughts (. . .) author's useless commentary  
  
Smiling Photographs  
By Hoshi-ni-Onegai  
  
#warning: cuss words come up here and there b/c that's Inuyasha's character and I tend to cuss in real life. . . sorry#  
  
"Inuyasha."  
  
Then without warning Kagome fainted leaving a panicking hanyou. "Kagome?" He shook her still form. "Hey, wake up. . . come on! Wake up Kagome! Right when you remember don't leave me! Kagome!"  
  
She didn't move in the slightest and Inuyasha was panicking even more so now. He was at a loss for what to do until he saw that her chest was steadily rising, a signal that she was breathing. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Don't scare me like that wench." He was gazing at her now peaceful looking face. He couldn't get over how much she had changed in the years he hadn't seen her, but also on how much she was still the same.  
  
He was brought out of his reverie when he remembered the bloody scene that was left in the living room. He tucked a loose raven hair that had fallen in front of Kagome's face behind her ear. "I wish you had remembered on different circumstances. Instead, the trauma is what brought them back. They didn't come back from seeing me. Did I hurt you that much?" He stroked her cheek lovingly, "Did I hurt you that much that you associate pain with me, and that's what caused you to remember?"  
  
She didn't even stir, she continued to sleep looking innocent as a child.  
  
His face contorted to an expression of pain, "I wouldn't be surprised. . ." As he let his sentence float off he averted his eyes to land upon her dresser. At the top was a disposable camera. Reluctantly leaving Kagome's side he went to pick up the camera, he made his way toward that door. He swung it open and stepped out into the living room making sure that he could still see Kagome.  
  
He looked down at the camera and saw that six pictures were left. "That'll probably be enough." With that, Inuyasha took pictures of horrific room. When he used up the camera he shoved into his jean pocket and went back to Kagome's side. He easily picked her up bridal-style and left the apartment with his precious cargo.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Inuyasha buckled her into the passenger side of his car and made his way around to the driver's side. Starting his engine and heading back to his apartment he pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911. The phone on the other end rang once and immediately someone picked up. (in Japan 911 is NOT the number you would dial for emergencies, in Japan it is 119, very convenient to remember for Americans(I think). . .)  
  
"911, how may help you?" A feminine voice said.  
  
"Matter considering the Underground." Inuyasha replied.  
  
"What city?"  
  
"Tokyo."  
  
"One moment please." The Underground had set up their form of 119 and reversed the number to be 911. It was used in cases such as this, but it also served as a kind of operator. If you needed information or a connection with someone in the Underground 911 was the place to call. But just in case a stupid human that knew nothing of the Underground accidently called, the operator was not to reveal that it was affiliated with the Underground and pretended to be an information hotline. The only way to get information about the Underground was for the caller to mention it themselves.  
  
Inuyasha was put on hold for a moment then a young male voice came on the phone. "What seems to be the problem?"  
  
"A youkai murdered a human at the residence of the human Higurashi Kagome. A clean up crew is needed as well as some Underground police officers."  
  
"And you credibility four your statement?"  
  
"Touken Inuyasha. Owner of Touken Ginkou. Second in line for the heir to the Western Lands. Brother of Seshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands. Part of the Inuyoukai clan. Son of Inutaishou. Is that enough credibility for you?" Inuyasha's voice was now dripping with sarcasm and near a growl.  
  
"No sir. A team is heading over to the residence at this very moment." The young youkai on the other line was scared, it was obvious. His voiced was trembling and his voice cracked. Inuyasha was know to be one of the strongest, oldest, and most powerful youkai alive. His name enough would make many inferior youkai obey his word, he needed not put in the lines about his lineage or his brother. . . but it was always a nice slap of a reminder to whoever questioned him. No one really understood why he and his brother were able to stay looking so young, but no one questioned in fear of the inuyoukai brothers wrath. The Touken brothers were not known to be malevolent, but the younger brother's violence and temper was well known while the older one was known to kill those with a cold stare. Many rumors circulated the Underground, it couldn't be helped.  
  
"Good. Tell the detective that will put on this case to call me at my office if he has any leads. It is imperative that you tell the detective." A sign of threat was evident in Inuyasha's voice.  
  
"Of course Sir. I will call him personally."  
  
"Good." With Inuyasha pressed the call end button and dialed another number.  
  
This time the phone on the other end did not pick up until the fifth ring and Inuyasha was growing inpatient. When a person finally did pick up a sleepy female voice was heard, "Moshi moshi?" (translation: Hello?)  
  
"Hey Sango, it's me. Put Miroku on the line."  
  
There was pause and some grumbling as Sango checked her clock, "Do you know what time it is Inuyasha? Can't this wait until tomorrow?"  
  
"Yeah, it's 1:30 am, it's not THAT late. And no, this can't wait till tomorrow."  
  
She let out a sigh and grumbled some more, "What's so important that can't wait till tomorrow?" In the back ground Inuyasha could here Miroku ask who it was and she answering him.  
  
"Sango, it's about Kagome. It can't wait till tomorrow. Now put Miroku on the line before I get even more pissed off."  
  
The recipient on the other end of the phone changed immediately, "Hello? Inuyasha? What's wrong? Sango says it's something about Kagome-sama. Did something happen?"  
  
Inuyasha glanced at the unconscious girl next to him, "Yeah. . . shit happened. I need you to come over to my place right now. Bring Sango with you. Oh, and don't tell Shippou, Kaede, Myouga, or anyone else. I just need you guys right now. Can you do that for me?"  
  
There was stunned pause on the other line. Even with the five hundred years that had gone by Inuyasha was not one to ask for help, even from his closest friends. When Inuyasha asked for help it meant he really needed it, for he was still not comfortable because he felt like he was put on the spot. He felt he was showing how vulnerable he was. Miroku smiled slightly, "We'll be over there as soon as possible."  
  
"I'll be waiting."  
  
"I'll see you in a few, bye Inuyasha."  
  
Miroku was about to hang up when he heard Inuyasha say something more, "Oh, and Miroku. Thanks." Then he hung up.  
  
Sango looked at Miroku quizzically from her side of the bed, "What's wrong? Did something happen to Kagome-chan? Is she alright?" By the rising in volume of her voice Miroku could tell she was becoming worried. He reached over with his left hand to stroke the back of the now sitting up Sango's head.  
  
"I'm not sure Sango, but knowing Inuyasha he would never let something happen to Kagome-sama. He just told us to get over there because he needs us."  
  
Sango's eyes went wide, "He needs us? Should I call Shippou?"  
  
"No, I don't think he wants him to know just yet. . . that's what has me worried." He got out of the comfort of his bed and quickly made his way to the closet and pulled some clothes on. "Come on Sango, Inuyasha's waiting."  
  
And so, she got up to change as well.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Before Miroku or Sango could even ring the doorbell the front door swung open revealing a very worried Inuyasha. "Took you long enough!"  
  
Sango puffed at this, "You know, we could have decided not to come all together if you're going to be like that."  
  
"I don't care if you leave me to the dogs of hell Sango, but this isn't about me. This is about Kagome." With that said Inuyasha grabbed Miroku by the upper and dragged him to his bedroom.  
  
As soon as they entered they saw someone laying under the blue-gray covers of Inuyasha's bed and poking out of those sheet was a head. A familiar head.  
  
"Kagome-chan." "Kagome-sama." The two bewildered friends said in unison. They quickly rushed over to her side, slightly shoving Inuyasha on the way.  
  
"What happened to her?" Sango asked as she gripped her best friends hand. Tears streamed down her cheeks, it had been far to long since she had seen her. Within the group it was only Inuyasha that met her as a child, everyone else had yet to see her after five hundred years. "Why is she in your bed? . . . Oh My God!" She whipped her head around, "Inuyasha, you didn't! Not this soon!"  
  
"I didn't! Don't jump to conclusions!" Inuyasha growled defensively but his face was slightly tinged pink, evidence of a blush. "Look, before you go accusing me of doing things I did not do I want Miroku to check if she's okay."  
  
The doctor of the group gently guided his love to the side as he crouched down to examine Kagome.  
  
And as an afterthought Inuyasha added, "If you touch her in even a slightly perverted way I'll kill you and have Sango marry some other good looking guy."  
  
Miroku was about to speak up in his defense when Sango also put in her two cents, "Ditto."  
  
After checking on Kagome with a protective hanyou sitting on the other side of the bed clasping her hand, and a worried best friend hovering behind him, Miroku concluded that Kagome was just fine and just needed some rest. But he wanted explanations, as did Sango.  
  
"What happened? When I talked to you yesterday you were still unwilling to go to the shrine to meet Kagome-sama, now she lies in your bed. Unconscious no less. What happened in the past day that changed the situation so much?"  
  
"Let's go to the living room and I'll explain out there. I don't want our talking waking up Kagome." Sango smiled at that and pulled Miroku with her out the door. Inuyasha stayed a moment longer and brushed back Kagome's bangs. "I'll be right back Kagome." With that he left the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.  
  
He saw his two friends sitting on the couch and he took the one next to them that had only one seat. (I think it's called a lazy-boy or a lounger, I'm not sure) He leaned back and stared up at the gray ceiling. Letting out a sigh he started to explain, "It all started yesterday morning when Ms. Imai called in on the intercom. . ."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
As soon as the door had shut Kagome had started stirring. She struggled under the covers as she slowly opened her eyes to the unfamiliar room. 'Where am I?' She sat up carefully as she could still feel an incessant pulsing in the back of her head. Looking around to figure out her surrounding she noticed that the room was pretty bare. 'Who ever lives here just moved in. . . or doesn't have that much stuff.' As she continued to glance around the room she noticed the dresser which held many picture stands. She got up from the bed and walked over to the dresser and picked one of them up. Bring the picture to the only light that was in the room, which was on the nightstand, she sat back down on the bed. The image in the picture made her gasp. 'That's. . . me!'  
  
In the picture was an eight-year-old Kagome being spun in the air by a man with short black hair holding her securely by the hips. She quickly shot up from the bed and went back over to the dresser. Upon the said dresser was fourteen picture stands, including the one she held in her hand. Each one was of her and the dark-haired man, each one progressing through the years. Examining all of them, she noticed she was smiling or laughing with the man. 'Who is that?' Her mind was a blank, she couldn't remember anything. She couldn't even remember her name, she could only remember what SHE looked like. 'Who am I? Who is that man? Why do I look so happy with him?'  
  
As she was racking her brain for some answers she noticed a photograph laying flatly on the dresser. This one wasn't framed and the photograph itself looked to be hundreds of years old. 'But that's impossible, photography was only invented in the past one hundred fifty years.' She delicately picked up the photograph, afraid of damaging it and saw an image of herself smiling back at her. This picture was of her when she around sixteen years old, her right arm was looped into the left arm of that of a teenage boy that stood next to her who was blushing effusively and seemed to be protesting. She smiling at the camera and held out a peace sign with her left hand. The boy had long white hair, amber eyes, fangs, claws, and dog-ears atop his head. 'I must have associated with some strange people in the past.' She thought as she sweatdropped looking at the boy who seemed ready to go trick-or-treating. (trick-or-treat is not done in Japan)  
  
She flipped the photograph over carefully to see if any writing was on the back, to her luck, there was.  
  
  
  
When she read the two names written on the back the picture in her handwriting something clicked in her head. 'Inuyasha!' She hastily put back the photograph upon the dresser and ran to the door.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"And that's when you came to the door." Inuyasha had finished with his explanations of the events of the past day and the other two occupants of the room were having a difficult time soaking it all up.  
  
Sango was the first one to break the silence that had fallen upon them, "So. . . does that mean she remembers you now?"  
  
Inuyasha let out a tired sigh, "I. . . I don't know. She said my name, but that's it. I had told her my full name when I introduced myself, so I don't know. She usually calls me 'Onii-chan,' because she only remembers me as Touken. I'm not sure if she called me by my real name out of reflex or because she remembered the past that involved the well."  
  
"Reflex? Why would Kagome-sama call you Inuyasha on reflex?"  
  
"When she woke up from her 'coma' she gasped out my name. . . we had just been talking about that only about an hour before she said it and fainted." Inuyasha leaned over sliding his fingers through his bangs in frustration. "What happens if she doesn't really remember? What am I to do then? Does that mean she's not my soul mate? Or does that mean she doesn't want to remember?"  
  
His two friends looked at him sympathetically, it was a rare moment when Inuyasha was willing to be open with them. There were very few people in the world that Inuyasha trusted to be open with, and only two that knew what to do when he was. One of them had been his mother, and the other was the girl in the bedroom down the hall.  
  
Sango was about to give some consoling words to her hanyou friend when the bedroom door slammed open, startling the three living room occupants. Inuyasha whipped his head up as he heard hurried footsteps of a person running toward them from the hallway that opened to the living room. When the person emerged from the corner he saw a panting Kagome, "I remember Inuyasha! I remember everything!"  
  
Inuyasha stood up not knowing what to say as he stared wide-eyed. The girl took in a shaky breath as tears formed in her and eyes. She gulped down, trying to hold back her tears, but soon ran across the room oblivious to Miroku or Sango's presence and dove into Inuyasha chest wrapping her arms around his chest. The sobbing girl buried her face in Inuyasha's chest fisting his shirt in her hands. Inuyasha gazed down at the girl. . . no woman, and wrapped his arms around her slender waist. He tried soothing her by rubbing her back but it didn't seem to be working.  
  
"Why are you crying Kagome? Aren't you happy?" Doubt etched his face now as Kagome didn't answer she just continued sobbing.  
  
When he thought she wasn't going to answer he heard her saying over and over, "Gomenasai. Gomenasai. Gomennasai. Gomenasai!" (translation: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm Sorry. I'm Sorry!)  
  
"Why are you apologizing?"  
  
He didn't get an answer until her cries died down slightly, "I forgot you! I tried to remember! I tried! But. . . I was too weak, I couldn't remember. . . I forgot everything. I'm sorry."  
  
Inuyasha pulled her back slightly tilted her chin up. With her tear stained face looking up at her he brushed away her wet tears with his right thumb. "It wasn't your fault." He stared into her eyes with so much emotion that it took Kagome's breath away. "I'm just glad you remember now. I'm glad you remember me."  
  
There was a pause, not an uncomfortable one, but one that was there so the two people that had finally found each other once again could dwell in the moment. Kagome leaned up, her shaky lips mere millimeters from Inuyasha's. As she spoke her breath tickled his lips and he didn't know if he could hold back.  
  
"Without you I would be lost. Remembering you is the reason I was born. It's what makes me complete. It's what makes sense in all this chaos." Then she slowly shut her eyes and leaned upward to initiate her first kiss with Inuyasha.  
  
The kiss was innocent, much like the one she stole from him all those years ago at the foot of the shrine steps. But it was different. This time, it wasn't a crush of a little girl. This time it was the love of a young woman. She expressed all her emotion into the chaste kiss, as did Inuyasha. They were finally together, within each other's embrace. After the centuries of waiting that Inuyasha had to endure, he was planning on never letting her go. They broke away from the kiss. Inuyasha stared down at Kagome that still had her eyes closed, she was trying to savor the feeling of his lips against hers. Her eyelids slowly slid open and they seemed slightly glazed over. She blinked slowly and a gentle smile tugged at her lips, "Wasurenaide itte kurete arigatou." (translation: Thank you for not forgetting me.)  
  
"Baka. Omae no koto wo wasurerareruka." (translation: Idiot. How could I forget you?)  
  
They embraced once again and Kagome buried her nose in his chest as he buried his in her hair. The two of them were within their own little world, that is, until Miroku made his presence known. "It's nice to meet you again Kagome-sama."  
  
The said female looked up startled from Inuyasha's chest to notice the other couple within the room. Due to the force of habit she jumped out of Inuyasha's arms and blushed. "Miroku-sama! Sango-chan!" This time she ran to them and hugged them both at the same time. "You're all here! You're really here!"  
  
Seeing Kagome hug another man was pushing Inuyasha over the edge (he's forgetting the fact that she's hugging Sango too). He stomped his way over to them and stood behind Kagome, growling at Miroku. He was about to pull Kagome away from the monk and the exterminator when suddenly Kagome did the unexpected.  
  
She clasped Miroku's hands within hers and looked him seriously in the eyes and said with also a serious tone, "Will you bear my child?"  
  
Silence fell upon the group as Kagome waited her answer from Miroku. After a second he smiled widely and said, "Of course Kagome-sama."  
  
A resounding slap and punch could be heard through out the whole floor as Sango's hand and Inuyasha's fist connected with the back of Miroku's head.  
  
"What do you mean 'of course'?! What am I chopped liver?!" Sango exclaimed down at the monk that was now sprawled on the floor.  
  
"Don't touch my Kagome!" Guess who said that?  
  
Kagome tapped her index finger against her chin in contemplation, "For some reason that didn't feel right." She counted off on her fingers as if she was making a checklist, "Okay. Ask to bear child. Get answer as a 'no.' Get slapped. Get insulted." She turned her head to look at Inuyasha and Sango. "Why does Miroku get slapped instead? Shouldn't he be slapping me?"  
  
Miroku had finally returned to the world of the conscious and the three of them stared at her, dumbfounded.  
  
"What are you talking about Kagome-chan?"  
  
"Well, it only felt natural. . . ok, maybe not. But it seemed like the thing to do."  
  
Sango shook her head frantically, "No, no, no. That isn't the thing for you to do, that's what Miroku is supposed to do."  
  
"Slap me?"  
  
"No! Ask you to bear your child." Sango glanced over to the pissed off hanyou to see if he was holding up. Inuyasha was still growling and glaring at Miroku, and the monk tried to look as innocent as possible.  
  
Kagome was confused. She averted her gaze form Sango to Inuyasha to Miroku then back up to Sango. "Do I say yes?"  
  
"No!" Inuyasha exclaimed as he leaped to her side and pulled her into his side protectively with his left arm wrapped around her waste and his right arm blocking any advances Miroku might try.  
  
"Then I say no?"  
  
"Yes!" Inuyasha and Sango said in unison.  
  
"I say yes?" Kagome asked quizzically.  
  
"No!" They both said together again.  
  
A second late, an echoing, "Yes!" could be heard form the direction of Miroku who was now starting to stand up.  
  
Inuyasha and Sango glared at him and Kagome was even more confused, "So do I say 'no' to Sango and Inuyasha if they ask me to bare my child and I say 'yes' to Miroku?"  
  
"No!"  
  
Kagome threw her hands up in the air, looking pretty silly because Inuyasha still held her protectively. "You guys are just out to confuse me!" She looked at Sango, "You! What did I say to you when you asked me to bare your child?"  
  
"No. Not that I ever asked. . . and I don't think it's physically possible." Sango replied.  
  
"I don't care about physics at the moment."  
  
She turned to Miroku this time but Sango kept on mumbling, "I think it's biology and not physics."  
  
"Oh shush Sango-chan! Okay, Miroku-sama. What did I say to you when you asked me to bear your child?"  
  
Miroku was about to answer when he saw the threatening glare coming from Sango and Inuyasha. To save his ass he slipped his hand into Sango's hand, "No. I'm sorry to disappoint you Kagome-sama, but I am a one-woman man."  
  
"She has no reason to be disappoint you sukebe houshi." (sukebe houshi=perverted monk)  
  
Kaogme let out a sigh of relief and stared up at Inuyasha, "What did I say to you when you asked me to bear your child?"  
  
Inuyasha blushed like an embarrassed teenage boy and stuttered out, "I-I n- nev-ver ask-ked y-you."  
  
Kagome looked crestfallen, "Really?"  
  
"Why do you look sad?" Inuyasha asked still blushing.  
  
Kagome shrugged, "I don't know. I guess it would have been nice to be asked."  
  
Inuyasha and everyone else was taken aback by her statement. "What would you have said if I asked?"  
  
Kagome sighed and casually said, "Probably 'no' and I would have probably slapped you, telling you that you were spending a bit too much time with Miroku-sama."  
  
"Hey I resent that!" Miroku protested but no one really seemed to care.  
  
"The truth just comes back to bite you in the ass doesn't it Houshi?" Inuyasha smirked at his long time friend.  
  
"What I want to know is why doesn't Kagome-chan remember something like that?" With Sango pointing it out they all looked at Kagome.  
  
"I. . . I'm not sure. . . I guess with the memories coming back to me, not all of them are clear yet. Trust me, it is an extremely overwhelming sensation when two years worth of memories suddenly smack you in the face at once." She tried giving her most logical answer which everyone seemed to understand. Then she added, "But that only applies to everyone excluding Inuyasha."  
  
The said hanyou stared at her wide-eyed, "What do you mean 'excluding Inuyasha?' What's so different about me?"  
  
"Again, I'm not sure, but everything in my mind is clear about you. . . the good and the bad." Her eyes averted to the ground and acquired a distant look to them.  
  
'The bad?' Inuyasha's mind was reeling through all the 'bad' times with Kagome and he couldn't help but feel that maybe, it out weighed the good by far too much.  
  
Sango was about to say something when Miroku stopped her. She looked up at him as he gazed at the saddened couple with a knowing look. He moved his gaze to his love and nodded toward the front door. Getting the hint Sango nodded and spoke, "Hey guys." When she got her attention from Inuyasha and Kagome, she continued. "We're going to go now. I wish I could stay and catch up with you, caromed. But I know you need your rest so we'll meet up some other time."  
  
Miroku was already at the front door waiting for Sango to finish talking. He locked gazes with Inuyasha, gave a knowing nod, then locked gazes with Kagome, and smiled giving a slight bow. "I'm pleased to meet you once again Kagome-sama. Inuyasha has been a bit bored with out you. I'm glad you are back into our lives."  
  
Kagome returned the smile with one, twice as bright. "Kagome. Call me Kagome. We shouldn't on formalities after all these years."  
  
Miroku contemplated the thought for a moment then smiled, "Yes, you are right, we shouldn't be on formalities. Well, I bid you good night Inuyasha. . . Kagome."  
  
"Good night Miroku, Sango-chan." Hearing his name without the honorific, Miroku was grinning on the inside, it felt like he had a long lost little sister back.  
  
When the front door shut with a click neither Inuyasha nor Kagome moved. That is, until Kagome noticed her position of being held by Inuyasha. She blushed and pulled out of his hold. "Err. . .Sorry."  
  
He raised an eyebrow as he watched the girl trying to move away from him, "What are apologizing for this time?"  
  
"For. . . you know. . . for the. . . thing. . . and the. . ." Her voice trailed off leaving Inuyasha to question.  
  
"The?" He gestured with his hand for her to continue.  
  
Her face turned 10 shades darker in red and in a barely audible whisper, "The kiss."  
  
"You're apologizing for it? Did you not want to?"  
  
Kagome whipped her head up to stare at him with a panicked expression, "No! It's not that! It's just. . . I feel like I took advantage of you." She blushed and looked shamefully at the ground.  
  
Inuyasha smirked, "Did you know you can be so cute sometimes? You didn't take 'advantage' of me with the kiss. Hell, I've been wanting to do that for years now. And if you still think that it is you taking advantage of me, you can do so whenever you want and as much as you want."  
  
He didn't know where this sudden burst of confidence was coming from. Granted, he always had a lot of confidence, maybe a bit too much, but when I came to Kagome he had very little.  
  
Kagome blushed even more, if possible, and gave a small uneasy smile. Then, a thought struck her, "'Sometimes?' I'm not cute all the time?"  
  
Inuyasha chuckled, "Sorry, no."  
  
Kagome huffed at that, "Thanks for the compliment Inuya-"  
  
He cut her off, "You're beautiful."  
  
Kagome blushed even more and pouted, "Who are you and what have you done with my Inuyasha? He was never good at compliments, and trust me he was shy when it came to his feelings."  
  
Inuyasha pulled her to him by gently tugging at her wrist then leaned down so they were eye to eye, "Your Inuyasha's still here. It's been a couple of years, I've matured."  
  
Kagome continued blushing, she wasn't used to this Inuyasha that showed so much affection. "I'm going to miss the jerk that was stubborn, jealous, loud, immature, annoying-"  
  
Inuyasha looked at her flatly, "I think I get the idea."  
  
She continued anyways, "courageous, kind, caring, loyal, and protective. I'm really going to miss him."  
  
Inuyasha grinned and rubbed his nose with hers, "I'm still here. I'm everything you said, and so much more. Oh, but I'm not just protective anymore."  
  
She tilted her head to the side in curiosity, "What else are you?"  
  
"Possessive." He leaned down and initiated the second kiss.  
  
When they broke away from their kiss, which still had been perfectly innocent, Kagome smiled, "I have to go."  
  
"To the bathroom?"  
  
"No! I mean, I have to go home." She tried to once again pull out of his embrace but he responded by keeping his iron grip.  
  
"You're not going back there." Inuyasha growled out angrily, not angry at her but the possibility that she might be in danger.  
  
"What are you talking about? Of course I'm going back."  
  
"Don't you remember what you witnessed in your apartment only a few hours ago?!"  
  
"Yes I remember, all the more reason for me to go. I can't just leave Hojo- kun like that. He deserves to be put to rest." She was now fighting to get out of his hold, "Let go of me Inuyasha!"  
  
With her command his grip became tighter and he growled into her hair as her back was now against his chest, "I'm never letting you go back there. Don't be stupid and run into the face of danger."  
  
"Why not?! You always did!" She continued trying to get to the front door, but with no results.  
  
Inuyasha took a deep breath trying to calm his nerves, "I forgot how troublesome you were," Kagome's anger flared up and Inuyasha sensed it. He nuzzled his nose into her hair trying to calm her down. "but you're worth it."  
  
Her anger distinguished like throwing water onto a flame, "Inuyasha. . . you know I still have to go. I can't leave Hojo-kun like that. . ." The image of the blood painted walls flashed in her mind. "Not like that."  
  
"You don't have to worry about that. I called the cops already. They should have swept though the place by now."  
  
Giving a slight sigh of relief Kagome said, "Officers connected to the Underground right?"  
  
Inuyasha cringed at that, "I don't like how you know so much about the Underground."  
  
Kagome gave a slight shrug, "It was bound to happen sooner or later."  
  
"Yeah, but I should have been by your side when it did."  
  
"If you're feeling guilty you can stop right there. The issue of me getting involved with the Underground is entirely my fault."  
  
"How did you get involved with the Underground?"  
  
"I woke up." She didn't say anything to elaborate on that.  
  
Inuyasha shook his head in frustration, "Care to extend upon that?"  
  
"I don't know where to start."  
  
"How about at the beginning?"  
  
There was a pause before she spoke, "I don't know where the beginning is anymore. . . I could have told you all about it if I hadn't gotten all these memories back. . . now. . ."  
  
"Now?" Inuyasha encouraged her to finish her thought.  
  
"I don't know where everything starts and where things end." She leaned back into his embrace, her head leaning slightly back on his shoulder so she could have a view of his eyes. "I'm just really confused right now."  
  
"About everything?"  
  
She shook her head as it rolled against his shoulder, still looking up at him. "No, not everything. I remember EVERYTHING about you. Some of the other stuff is kind of fuzzy." He gave a genuine smile. "You should do that more often."  
  
"Do what?"  
  
"Smile like you're truly happy."  
  
Inuyasha kissed her forehead and murmured against it, "I think I'll be doing that a lot more from now on."  
  
Kagome let out a laugh, "You know how cliché and corny we sound?"  
  
Inuyasha also gave out a light chuckle, "I'm willing to risk it."  
  
Kagome slid her eyes shut and let out a exasperated sigh, "I don't know why you're happy I remember everything about you."  
  
He looked down at her slightly hurt, "You want to forget some stuff?"  
  
Her eyes still shut she shook her head once again, "I don't want to forget a single thing. . . but I remember some things that I could use against you."  
  
He raised an eyebrow in amusement, "Are you blackmailing me?"  
  
She opened her eyes and smirked up at him, "No, not really. But I do recall a time when you tried to kill me."  
  
Inuyasha's eyes went wide, "I never tried to kill you!"  
  
She smiled, "Of course you did. That's how you ended up with that faithful rosary around your neck." She reached for the said rosary from the collar of his shirt and pulled it out so it was dangling on his neck outside of the shirt. She gazed at it as she fingered it, then she looked up, "Do you want me to take it off?"  
  
"No."  
  
Kagome stared in surprise, "Why not? It has to have haunted your days when I was journeying with you. Why don't you want it off anymore?"  
  
"It's a reminder."  
  
"Of what?"  
  
"Of who I was before I met you, and who I have become."  
  
Kagome stared at him a bit longer than sighed and leaned back into him even more, "You have changed. . . I'm afraid I might not even know who you are anymore. Heck, I don't even know what to call you anymore."  
  
"I'm still the same Inuyasha, and you can call me as such."  
  
"'Call you as such?' You didn't talk like that before. . ."  
  
He honestly didn't know what to say so he embraced her little bit tighter in assurance.  
  
"Inuyasha?"  
  
He buried his nose into her hair, "Yeah?"  
  
"Onii-chan?"  
  
Inuyasha froze, 'How am I supposed to answer?'  
  
"Inuyasha, Onii-chan. . . you two are one in the same. . . I'm not sure if I'll be able to grasp that for a while."  
  
"You can take as much time as you need. . . I'm sorry for complicating matters more. . . Maybe I shouldn't have come to you as Touken. Maybe I should have been patient and wait until now to see you." His voice was dripping with doubt and sadness.  
  
Kagome reached up to stroke his cheek. "If you had done that I would have died tonight without you being there. Also, 'Onii-chan' was a big part of my childhood. I can't imagine a life without him being there. . . without you being there."  
  
"That's something I really missed about you."  
  
Kagome turned in his arms slightly to look him the face, "What?"  
  
"The way you always knew exactly what I needed to hear."  
  
She smiled fully and gently, "No problem."  
  
Inuyasha glanced over at the clock, "It's 2:45am."  
  
Kagome looked over in the direction of his gaze to the clock, "It's been a long night."  
  
"Yeah. . . the longest I've had in a while."  
  
The was a silent pause, then Kagome spoke. "I have to go."  
  
Inuyasha whipped his gaze her and growled, "I told you. You're not going back there."  
  
"But I have to go~!" Kagome whined like a little child.  
  
"If I say no, it means no!"  
  
"You're not the boss of me!" She pulled out of his arms, which she was able to do by ducking under his locked arms. After she was free, she ran toward the front door. "I have to go and you can't stop me!"  
  
Inuyasha got over the shock that Kagome, in a physically unexplainable way had gotten out of grasp. He ran across the room to stand in front of Kagome a few meters in front of the door. "I said no!"  
  
"I~nu~ya~sha~!" She gritted out through her teeth.  
  
"It's for your own good Kagome." He crossed his arms and stationed himself in front of the furious girl.  
  
Her eyes flashed with a hidden fire and said, the words still gritted through her teeth. "I am so glad you didn't let me take that rosary off."  
  
Inuyasha's eyes went wide, "Kagome no!" He reached over to clamp his hand over her mouth but was too late.  
  
"Osuwari!" (translation: Sit boy!)  
  
Inuyasha went crashing to the ground from the force of the rosaries and Kagome leapt over him to the door. The thing is, she didn't open the front door but the bathroom door that was right next to it.  
  
"I don't know what's your problem Inuyasha, but when nature calls you are NOT getting in my way!" With that, she slammed the door shut and went on to do her business.  
  
Inuyasha was still on the floor with his face planted into the hard wood floor. "Oww."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"How do you think Inuyasha and Kagome-chan are doing? Do you think that they're getting along, or are they fighting like before?" Sango asked as she peered at Miroku from her side of the bed. Upon returning from Inuyasha's they both laid in bed trying to catch a few more hours of sleep.  
  
Miroku rolled over on to his side to face her, "I'm sure those two are doing fine. I highly doubt they will be fighting after not seeing each other for five hundred years." A smirked adorned his face, "They're probably too busy doing 'other' things to fight."  
  
Sango's eyes went wide, "AHHH! Don't even say that!" She slapped him upside the head. "Now how am I going to get rid of that mental image?!"  
  
Recovering from the hit Miroku scooted over and snaked his arm around her narrow waist. "I know a couple ways." Sango blushed despite herself. He saw this and tapped her on the nose, "I love how you still blush after all these years. It is very admiring."  
  
"With a man like you at my side how could I not blush from time to time?" She grumbled out.  
  
"The fact that you've dealt with a man like me for such a long time just makes me love you even more." He kissed her on the forehead. "It's still early, let's get some sleep."  
  
He pulled her into his chest, a position they both grew to enjoy after many years sleeping at each others side. Sango sighed and snuggled into his chest. "Good night Miroku."  
  
"Good night Sango."  
  
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ A/N: I didn't' have a cliffy?!. . . . . . . . . . now THAT is amazing. I will not be using the customary "sit" for subduing Inuyasha, it will be "Osuwari" because I think the translators had some trouble with that. . . cuz "Osuwari" is a command, and well. . . sit, can be a command but it always isn't. . . so. . . I choose the subduing spell to be with "osuwari" instead of "sit boy" (I also think it sounds better in Japanese). . .  
  
Kurai Mori: your first review I could follow, it was simple and to the point. Yes Hojo is dead, I don't hate him though. And I'm very happy that Kagome remembers her soul mate as well! (I'm the author and I'm thinking 'it's about time!') I was thinking of delaying her memory relapse for about five more chapters but I decided against that (for my own sanity's sake (I sound so selfish now). . . ok, about you second review. Um. . . I got lost half way through it. I would love to answer your questions but I have no idea what it is! So I was wondering if you have AIM or MSN, cuz just tell me ur sn or email and I can talk to online and can answer away to all your questions~! Just tell me in your next review k? till then! ^o^  
  
Aura Jade: I'm glad you like how I use Japanese. The thing is, as mentioned before, my native language isn't English and there are certain parts where I think it just sounds better in Japanese because the characters originally speak in Japanese (this is all for my selfish reasons of making it sound better in my head. . . sorry). I'm also glad that you like my idea of making Kagome not the reincarnation of Kikyou. I always thought that it maybe a possibility. Because if Kagome was the reincarnation of Kikyou, doesn't that mean that there might be a reincarnation of Inuyasha in her time? Oh well. Thank you for your review!  
  
Kyaa Kyaff: I think a lot of ppl are glad Hojo is dead (sweatdrop) I kinda liked his clueless nature (in the manga I never saw the anime). I'm glad you like the fic, and thatnks your for understanding my school situation. And thanks for your review!  
  
SilverArcher: I'm glad you like my story and the twist I put into the plot (although I think I may have confused some ppl. . . someone has yet to speak up though). And I understand your frustration in finding really good authors for Inuyasha fics. I am extremely flattered that you think I made a masterpiece *blush* I have always been pretty insecure about my writing and the comments from reviewers like you always encourage me to keep writing! Thank you!  
  
Aleaha: I post this fic on mm.org as well. Might as well attack ppl with a bad fic on both sites right? Yup! ^o^  
  
Maia Webmistress: I'm happy that the reviewers so far has liked the story I have come up with~! Thank you!  
  
Kiwi: This chapter was dedicated to you kiwi! It's always nice seeing new comers to ff.net. It just makes the site even better! The more the merrier right?  
  
CheesieCake: I'm glad that you'll be here forever and ever. . . I'm not sure if this fic will last that long though (sweatdrop). But if I get to have a supportive reviewer like you even for a couple more chapters I will be very happy! ^o^  
  
Chibi Koneko: Yes, I guess it is sweet. . . tell me if it gets to sweet for your taste ok? Thanks for the review! (you were the first reviewer for this chappie)  
  
Ryguy5387: The greatest fic you ever read?! I have to recommend you to some better fics out there!  
  
Maribel: See, she does remember him.  
  
LeonRinko: She DOES remember 'Onii-chan' but she just couldn't recognize him because his hair and eye color was different. Does that help clarify?  
  
Ady_anhee999: There are more twists to come and I hope to continue this fic as well!  
  
Aditu: I'm glad you liked my graphic horror scene (should I be glad that I can describe that well?). Sorry to make you scream in frustration with the last cliffy back there but I hope this one wasn't that bad~! ^o^  
  
Cursed Jax: No, I don't know any styles. I'm very limited in the martial arts area. . . but I'm known to be pretty strong and have vicious glare. . . my best friends say I have this glare that promises death more painful than the torture of a thousand souls. . . that kind of disturbs me. . . am I really that scary? (I'm 5'3" for God sakes!)  
  
Oracle44: I'm hoping that my writing is maturing, if even slightly. I'm glad you liked the previous chapter!  
  
Hell's lil Bitch: (I like ur name) I'm sorry but cliffies are something essential in my stories. I tried to make it not as bad for this one. What do you think?  
  
Well c ya at the next chapter! Smiles! 


	7. Osanaide

Author Notes: Sorry for the VERY LATE chapter! I was bombarded with end of the quarter tests and projects and didn't have time to write! I know I compensate very badly with this short chapter (although it is still 10 pages, but that is short for this fic). On top of that my pc crashed! So I'm on my dad's pc typing this back up, because I had lost the file when my pc crashed! As we speak/type my pc is getting sent! Yay! I hope you enjoy the chappie anyways. . . R&R!  
  
Disclaimer: Inuyasha is not mine. . . I wish it was though. . . *sigh*  
  
". . ." dialogue '. . .' thoughts (. . .) author's useless commentary  
  
Osanaide  
By Hoshi-ni-Onegai  
  
#warning: cuss words come up here and there b/c that's Inuyasha's character and I tend to cuss in real life. . . sorry#  
  
Splashing her face with the water running out of the faucet Kagome flipped her hair back and stared into the mirror. She wasn't sure if she recognized the girl staring back at her. She knew it was her, and she was pretty sure she knew herself. Nevertheless, she couldn't help but feel lost. The two years worth of memories was like a sensory overload, and it seemed that she didn't have all the facts straight. But she knew everything that happened with Inuyasha perfectly. From their first violent meeting to their last sorrowful one. Kagome just continued to stare at the girl, no, woman staring back at her.  
  
"Who are you?" She said to her reflection, clearly expecting it to answer. To her, she now had two pasts. One with Inuyasha and another without. She wasn't entirely positive if Inuyasha was real. Out of nowhere he suddenly just appeared, along with package of tightly compacted memories.  
  
"Maybe I'm just imagining everything. Maybe there isn't an Inuyasha or a Sango or a Miroku. . . or a Shippou, a Kaede, a Myouga, a Kirara. . ." She glared at her reflection now, "I get it, so they are real. . . but. . . why do I remember them now?"  
  
She let out a tired sigh and shut off the water and reached over for the hand towel that hung next to the sink. Drying her face off she glanced at the mirror again. What she saw there surprised her. Instead of a twenty- two year old mature Kagome looking back there was a teenage Kagome in her green school uniform smiling back. Kagome's eyes widened in shock, she reached her hand to touch the mirror. The younger Kagome mimicked her movements completely, except her expression was different. She seemed to be trying to be reassuring her doubting older self. When their hand touched on the mirror the younger Kagome smiled gently and mouthed 'trust him' then suddenly whirled around and the older Kagome could see her younger reflection disappearing. She stood there for a moment, not really sure what she was supposed to make of the little encounter. She told her to 'trust him.'  
  
Kagome voiced her guess on who this 'him' might be, "Inuyasha?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
She jumped when she heard his voice from outside the bathroom door. She quickly opened the door to find the hanyou leaning against the wall next to the bathroom door.  
  
"Y-you heard me?"  
  
He looked at her a bit confused, "Of course I did wench. I'm a hanyou remember? Better hearing is part of the program."  
  
Kagome let out a frustrated sigh as she flicked off the bathroom light and shut the door behind her. She sat down on the couch, taking the seat to the far left, and crossed her legs. "I see we're back to my lovely nickname again."  
  
Inuyasha made his way toward her and sat down in the seat directly next to her. "What you don't like it? I could always call you 'bitch.'"  
  
She gave him a side glare, "And how would that make it better?"  
  
He smirked as he wrapped his left arm around her waist and leaned over her with his right arm across her resting on the arm rest. He pulled her toward him as a blush crept across Kagome's face. "Because, me being a inuyoukai, calling you bitch has certain connotations to it."  
  
She blinked slowly, "Do I really want to know the connotations?"  
  
He shrugged and leaned in close enough that their faces were hair's breath away. "That's entirely up to you. But you're a smart girl, I'm sure you can figure it out on your own."  
  
Inuyasha stared deep into her eyes and she started panicking, and did the very thing she did all those years ago in the Sengoku Jidai. She put all her strength into it and shoved him away. He went sprawling on the floor and she was blushing violently.  
  
Inuyasha took a minute to register what just happened then growled up at Kagome, "What the hell was that for?!"  
  
"You were getting too close!" She huffed turning her red face away to not look at him.  
  
"That's what people do when they're about to kiss!" He continued growling as he picked himself of the floor.  
  
The red-faced wide-eyed Kagome turned to look at Inuyasha and stammered out, "Y-you w-were about to k-kiss m-me?"  
  
"No, actually I was trying to kiss the Pope sitting behind you but you were in the way." He answered with a voice dripping with sarcasm.  
  
She turned around to check if the Pope was really there. Seeing that the leader of the Roman Catholic Church was nowhere in sight she whipped her head around, "But he's not. . ." Noticing his flat expression she exclaimed, "Hey! You lied to me! The Pope isn't back there!"  
  
"No shit Sherlock."  
  
Kagome narrowed her eyes at him, "I liked it better when you didn't make so many contemporary allusions. You had less material to insult me with."  
  
"Well you are an easy target."  
  
"So is a baby but you don't see me dishing out insults at it!"  
  
"Hey! I wouldn't insult a baby either!" He exclaimed indignantly.  
  
"The same way you never insulted Kikyou?!" Kagome yelled.  
  
Inuyasha froze. To him, the whole issue with Kagome and Kikyou ended centuries ago. He had chosen Kagome in the end, that's why he had waited for her. Now he could see, that to her, Kikyou was still something unresolved. She was something that prevented them from getting closer; Kikyou was always the barrier. He couldn't blame Kagome for feeling insecure about that, he had always used Kikyou as an excuse to not get close to anything. But wasn't Kikyou dead already to Kagome? She had been there when he had killed her. Doesn't she remember that night? The talk they had? "Kikyou is dead Kagome. . ." He whispered out.  
  
Kagome faced away from Inuyasha and fought back the tears, "I know. . ."  
  
"Then why are you bringing her up?"  
  
"There is. . ." Kagome paused and directed her gaze to shamefully look at her feet, "there is always a chance someone might bring her back like before."  
  
"Then I would destroy the walking dirt and bones."  
  
"It took you two years to get yourself to do it that last time. . . and that was because our lives were in danger. . . how long will it take you this time? Five years? Ten? Twenty?"  
  
"A split second."  
  
Kagome whispered, "Don't lie to me Inuyasha."  
  
"I'd never lie to you Kagome, not anymore. I would destroy the false Kikyou in a split second."  
  
Kagome shook her head and gave a saddened chuckle, "No you wouldn't. You would see her and think that you might be able to have a third chance with her. . . The only thing you need is my soul." She brought her eyes up to look straight in to his. "For your happiness I would give up my life and soul. If Kikyou were to walk the earth again and you only needed my soul to be happy with her, just ask me. No, you don't even have to ask me. I would give her my soul, so you two can live together much like you two deserve. You two deserve a chance at happiness. . . If my insignificant existence was the only thing sacrificed for that I would do it. . . in a split second."  
  
Inuyasha stared at Kagome in shock, "Don't say that."  
  
"I-I'm tired of being a replacement. I'm tired of always being looked at as 'Kikyou's Reincarnation.'"  
  
"You're not."  
  
Kagome glared at Inuyasha with a malicious and hurt look, "I don't need your lies. I know how what you all think of me. I'm a 'second-rate replica.'"  
  
Inuyasha growled and looked pissed, "You're not listening."  
  
"I don't need to. I see things perfectly clear."  
  
"Then take off your fucking blindfold!" Kagome didn't answered, too shocked to say anything. "You are NOT Kikyou's reincarnation. That's something we messed up on. We just assumed you were because you two looked alike, but Midoriko told us the truth after you left. Kikyou had stolen a part of your soul to walk the earth again, but that wasn't Kikyou. It was just her body, it held her memories, but not her soul. It was just a empty shell walking around. You're not Kikyou's reincarnation Kagome. Midoriko said you're the reincarnation of something more powerful."  
  
"Then what's my preincarnate?" Her expression was neutral now.  
  
"That's what I'd like to know."  
  
"I'm not Kikyou. . ." Kagome blinked rapidly, the new information was hard to swallow. For the longest time she had been compared to Kikyou, but now, she learns that they have no connection by soul, just appearance.  
  
Inuyasha crouched in front of her, looking up to her as she sat on the couch. He got her attention and locked eyes. "I stopped seeing Kikyou in you a few days after I met you. You two are nothing alike, so I don't want you worrying about Kikyou anymore."  
  
Kagome smiled sadly, "But it doesn't change the fact that you thought it was really her coming from the grave. It doesn't change that you had chosen her."  
  
"I was confused teenage boy back then. I never loved Kikyou. She was my first friend, it was only friendship I felt."  
  
"You acted like you loved her."  
  
"That's because I didn't know what love felt like. I do now." Kagome's eyes went wide. "Aishiteruyo Kagome." (translation: I love you Kagome.)  
  
Her eyes widened even further but instead of the joyous expression that was expected she looked troubled. "I. . . I don't know what to say."  
  
"Say you love me back." Inuyasha pleaded as he reached up to stroke her cheek.  
  
Kagome turned away from his touch, "I can't."  
  
He could have sworn he heard his heart break. His world had just went crashing down. The person he had come to love so much didn't love him back. They say the heart grows fonder with time apart, well he had five hundred years and his heart was screaming for Kagome.  
  
The look on Inuyasha's face hurt her just as much as it did him. "Inuyasha, I don't deny that I have feelings for you, but. . ."  
  
Inuyasha saw the small glimmer of hope, "But?"  
  
"I'm the confused one now. I know I told you my feeling right before I crossed over to my time, but I was under the impression that I would never see you again."  
  
"You said it to humor me?"  
  
"No, it's not that. . . I didn't want to leave you without you knowing how I felt. . . but even then I was so confused. My feelings weren't sorted out. That's why I left when I did. . . so I wouldn't figure out my true feelings. What would have happened if it was love and I figured it out? Could I have left then? No, I think I would have stayed with you and faced my death that was to come in a year. I also didn't want to burden you with my feelings."  
  
"Burden me?"  
  
"Having someone tell you they have a crush on you is one thing, but proclaiming their love. . . that's a whole other story. I thought we would never meet again. I had the luxury of forgetting everything. I couldn't miss something I didn't know about. What about you? I know it sounds a bit conceited, but what happens if I said I loved you and left. I thought you would have lived out your life in the past, I didn't want you to cling onto my memory like you did with Kikyou."  
  
"But I didn't love her!"  
  
"I know that now, but you still clung to her memory. You were afraid to live again. I didn't want you to have to go through that again."  
  
"But you still like me right?"  
  
Kagome apologetically looked into Inuyasha's eyes, "Un, suki dayo. Daisuki. Demo, onegai, osanaide." (translation: Yes, I like you. I like you a lot. But, please, don't push me.)  
  
Inuyasha smiled a sad smile, but seeing that she needed time to sort out her feelings he was willing to wait and see what her final answer would be. He pulled her into an embrace. "Imawa soredakede ii." (translation: I'm fine with that for now.)  
  
"Inuyasha. . ."  
  
"Yakusoku shiteyaru, Kagome no kotowo osanai. . . tada, itsuka hontou no kimochi wo wakkatara oshiete hoshii. Ai, suki, ikari, kirai. Deredemo ii, wakkatara oshiete kure." (translation: I promise you, I won't push you Kagome. . . just, if you ever figure out your feelings tell me. Love, like, anger, hate. Which ever one, just tell me when you know.)  
  
"Inuyasha no kotowo zettai kirai ni narenai. Datte, Inuyasha no koto wo konnani suki nandamon." (translation: I could never hate Inuyasha. Because, I like you so much.)  
  
He let out a sigh into her hair, "Arigatou."(translation: Thank you.)  
  
She shook her head, "Uun, arigatai no wa watashino houyo. Gohyakunen mo tatte mo watashi no kotowo oboitoite kuretashi, soreto, Inuyasha no kimochi wo oshiete kurete arigatou. Mijuku na atashi wo omotoite arigatou." (translation: No, I should be the one that's grateful. You remembered me even after five hundred years, and thank you for telling me your feelings. Thank you for feeling for a person as mediocre as me.) (a/n: I'm not sure if mediocre is the right word for this. . . it's more along the lines of 'not yet completely matured')  
  
"Mijuku janaiyo. Ore no me de wa rippa na onna ni natteru yo." (translation: You're not mediocre. In my eyes you have turned into an amazing woman.)  
  
Inuyasha was contented within the embrace until he noticed her slow and steady breathing. 'She fell asleep.' He smiled into her hair then scooped her up, taking her to lay down on his bed. As he tucked her into the bed sheets he laid beside her to get his rest as well. But since the incident at Kagome's apartment he didn't allow himself to go into a deep sleep.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
~She'll never love you.~  
  
'Shut up.'  
  
~Why are you even trying to deny it?~  
  
'I'm not denying anything.'  
  
~Then accept the fact that she'll never love you.~  
  
'I don't know that, I'm willing to wait for her answer.'  
  
~Don't be stupid. What do you have that no other average man can offer?~  
  
'Protection.'  
  
~She needs a man in her life, not a guardian.~  
  
'I'll be the man and guardian at the same time.'  
  
~Don't be foolish, you'll never be the man.~  
  
'And how the hell would you know this?'  
  
~Because I'll be the man. A role that a lowly hanyou like you could never fulfill.~  
  
'. . .Who are you?'  
  
~You know me, we've met before.~  
  
'WHO ARE YOU?!'  
  
~In due time you will find out.~  
  
'TELL ME NOW!!!'  
  
~So impatient. . .'  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Inuyasha woke up with a start. He was covered in sweat, breathing erratically, and eyes wide. His sudden movement had woken up the sleeping girl next to him. Groggily she rubbed at her eyes, "Inuyasha?"  
  
His head and eyes whipped toward her. Their eyes locked and at that moment there was fear in his eyes.  
  
"Inuyasha? Are you alright?" She sat up next to him and attentively reached up to place a hand on his cheek. Upon contact she could feel that his skin was slightly cold from the sweat and the air around them. "Did you have a nightmare?"  
  
Suddenly he grabbed her hand in his and pulled it away from his face so that it clasped in both of his clawed ones. "Is there someone else?"  
  
She looked at him a confused, "Is there someone else of what? I don't understand Inuyasha."  
  
"Is there someone else that you love? Is that why you can't say it to me?"  
  
She quickly pulled her clasped hands with his into her so that they were holding each other's hand in front of one another. "Why are you asking this? Are you okay? What happened?"  
  
"Answer the question Kagome." He stared at her sternly.  
  
Kagome searched in his eyes to see where this question was coming from. Unable to determine, and seeing that he was not backing down she answered, "No, there is no one else."  
  
Inuyasha gave a large sigh of relief, "You would tell me if there was right?"  
  
"Of course. If there is or if there ever is to be one in the future, you would be the first person I tell. I promised you that, remember?"  
  
Even the slight mention of a possible other guy in the future irked him but he gave a light smile and leaned his head over to lie on her shoulder. "Thanks."  
  
She brushed down his hair and whispered next to his ear, "No problem."  
  
She glanced over at the window and saw that the first rays of sun from the new day were peeking their way into the darken room with the curtains drawn. Looking over to the clock she saw that it read 7:15am. "We have to get to work."  
  
Without moving from his spot Inuyasha answered, "We could call in sick today."  
  
"What if someone finds out we aren't out sick?"  
  
He chuckled, "It's not like we're going to get fired. I'm the CEO of the company. Trust me, I wouldn't fire you and I'm not willing to fire myself just yet either."  
  
She gave a slight frown, "You know, I don't want this job if you're just playing favorites. I want this job because I'm qualified for it, not because I fell down a well and happen to have met you in the Sengoku Jidai."  
  
He chuckled again, "You don't have to worry about that. I'm not even the one who hired you, and I trust Miss Imai's judgment when it comes to new employees. . . even if she is a little on the flaky side."  
  
"So you didn't just hired me because. . . well. . . I was me?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Did you even know I was going to work there when I came into your office yesterday morning?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"So this is all just one freakish coincidence?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
Kagome sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose, "I think I'm going to get a headache."  
  
"Want me to press the pressure point for you?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Never mind."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Good morning Mr. Williams."  
  
The elderly foreign man recognized the young ebony-haired man that was standing at his office door and greeted him back, gesturing for him to sit down in a chair in front of his desk. "Good morning. How are you?"  
  
"Good, can't complain. You?" The young man answered good-naturedly.  
  
"I'm fine, thank you. So, what business do you have today with me? I hope nothing like a lawsuit." Mr. Williams said with a smile from behind his desk.  
  
"Nothing like that. Miss Imai called me yesterday saying that your replacement had finally arrived and told me to stop by to get some of the legal work underway."  
  
"You're a bit early don't you think? My replacement hasn't come in for the day just yet, she should be here in about fifteen minutes."  
  
The young man gave the old one a dashing smile, "Just wanted to get a head start on a long process. Much like you, I thought I would have seven months to get this all done but now I only have a month. I need to get this all started and finished quickly. And knowing that you come in earlier than the average employee, I decided to get some of the stuff done that involves you in it."  
  
Mr. Williams smiled at the young lawyer, "Sure thing Mr. Senshi."  
  
"We'll be seeing each other constantly for the next month, you should call me by my first name."  
  
The old man smiled that went all the way to his eyes, the skin around his eyes crinkling like the way it does on Santa when he smiles. "My replacement had said the exact same thing. Very well, let's get down to business Kouga-kun."  
  
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ A/N: Senshi means "death in war" and this is NOT a last name in Japan, for one thing it is a very crude name and also one that will probably be looked upon as bad luck. . . but I gave Kouga this last name because he is a wolf youkai. . . what does that mean u ask? Well, the thing is wolves used to exist in Japan, but were killed off by hunters. So I thought that Kouga would choose a name that would honor his fellow wolves by having a name that show the that the wolves had died with honor against a battle of the wolves against hunters. . . I might make a side story or integrate that into a chapter. . . not really sure, tell me in ur review if you would like to see that. 


	8. Elevator Conversations

Author Notes: I'm really sorry about the lack of updates for this fic and my other one. I was so determined to get the chapters done but I ran into an old friend of mine, writer's block. After going to this fic hundreds of times over the past month I would stare at it for bit and not know how to continue on. It seems like I couldn't phrase anything the way I wanted to and the dialogue just seems pushed and rushed. . . even now, after tackling this chappie for all this time I am very unsatisfied with it. . . Well, I hope you like it anyways. . . until next time!  
  
Disclaimer: Inuyasha doesn't belong to me. . . but I can dream can't I?  
  
". . ." dialogue '. . .' thoughts (. . .) author's useless commentary  
  
Elevator Conversations  
By Hoshi-ni-Onegai  
  
#warning: cuss words come up here and there b/c that's Inuyasha's character and I tend to cuss in real life. . . sorry#  
  
After much argument between Inuyasha and Kagome on if they would be going to work that day or not, it was finally decided that they would be going.  
  
"What do I do about clothes?" Kagome asked as she looked down at her present ones that she had been wearing for twenty-four hours.  
  
"Wear what you have on now." Inuyasha shrugged as he went over to his closet to pull out his fresh clean clothes for the day.  
  
"I can't do that! Ewwww. What would Mr. Williams think? I go into work two days in a row with the same clothes! I have to change clothes!"  
  
"What's the big deal?"  
  
Kagome stared at him flatly, "Said by the man that is getting dressed into a clean suit."  
  
He looked down at his clothes much like Kagome had done before and let out a sigh. "Fine."  
  
She brightened up and clasped her hands together. "So I can go home to get some clothes?!"  
  
"I didn't say that."  
  
"But you-"  
  
"We can go to a store and buy you some new clothes."  
  
"I don't need new clothes, I just need to swing by my house." She looked slightly annoyed by now but Inuyasha wouldn't budge on his decision.  
  
"You have got to be the only female in the world that claims she doesn't need new clothes. It's okay, it'll be my gift to you. Afterwards I can drive you to work, which you seem so determined to get to."  
  
"Don't be stupid Inuyasha, I'm not going to work with you. What will people think seeing the new employee with the CEO? They'll think I slept with you or something to get the job."  
  
Kagome got up from where she had been sitting on the bed and made her way toward the front door.  
  
Inuyasha grumbled as he grabbed his wallet, car keys, and briefcase. "You did technically sleep with me."  
  
"What?" She called out from the other room.  
  
"I was wondering if you needed to pee."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Common label my ass." Kagome was trying on a skirt and blouse in the dressing room of the expensive brand-name store, Versace. After another argument between Inuyasha and Kagome on if he should accompany her in buying clothes or not; Kagome, once again, won the argument and was dropped off in front of a 'common label store.' "He's too rich for his own good."  
  
She was the first customer in for the day, for the fact that Inuyasha 'called in a favor' so that Kagome could get something to wear. At hearing that she was touched, but after seeing the store name her jaw fell open. She was led into the store and Inuyasha told the attendant there to put it on his tab. 'How often can a person go to a store that they have tab? Can you even have a tab in clothing stores?'  
  
"Are you okay miss? Do you need some assistance?" The attendants voice was heard outside the curtain of the dressing room.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine. I don't need any help, I'll be out soon." Kagome called back. 'How confusing could it be to put on a blouse and skirt? Has anyone really asked for help doing that before?'  
  
Buttoning up the final button and zipping up her skirt she looked in the mirror. A simple black skirt that went past her knees and a gray blouse. She didn't want to use that much of Inuyasha's money so she settled for the least expensive looking clothes, even then the price in total would be over well over twenty thousand yen. (approx. $200)  
  
'Why couldn't he have dropped me off at Wal-Mart or something?' She sighed and stepped out of the dressing room.  
  
"Those colors suit you very well miss." The smiling attendant said to Kagome.  
  
'It's not like you'd tell me if they looked terrible on me.'  
  
"Would you like to wear them out?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
With that the attendant was cutting off the price tags and taking off the security tags. As soon as she rang up the items Kagome left the store with the previous day's clothes in a paper bag from Versace. 'Yesterday's clothes didn't even cost me one fifth of today's. . . how the heck am I going to repay Inuyasha?'  
  
Entering the building of Touken Ginkou that was only a few blocks away from the fashion district and smack dab in the financial district, Kagome was stopped by one of the security guards.  
  
"Hey Kagome." The black-haired, tall, and good-looking security guard smiled down at her.  
  
She smiled back, this was the security guard that helped her out yesterday when she didn't know where she was supposed to go. Yesterday she would have thought him drop dead gorgeous and willing to get his number, but after the whole thing with Inuyasha this security guard just seemed average and didn't spark her interest. Even so, Kagome was one to be friendly. "Hi Ryo. Thanks for helping me out yesterday, I don't know what I would have done without you."  
  
"That's no problem. Sorry to be holding you up from work but can I see your security pass?"  
  
"M-my security pass?" Kagome's eyes widened and she twirled her fingers around her bag and paper bag out of nervousness.  
  
Ryo grinned, "Yeah, you know those plastic laminated things that allow you to enter the building?"  
  
"Haha. . . uh. . . I left it up at the office?" She shifted her weight from one foot to the other.  
  
"You don't have one do you?" Ryo grinned some more.  
  
"Uh. . . no, sorry. I didn't know I needed to ask for one."  
  
He gave out an exaggerated sigh and gestured toward the elevators. Pressing the button for up he grinned again, "I guess I'll have to escort you upstairs until you get one."  
  
"You don't have to do that! How dangerous could I be?"  
  
"You would be surprised at what young beautiful women can do to a financial building."  
  
Kagome blushed at his comment, "Do I just have to prove to you that I work here?"  
  
"Basically."  
  
"Arg! Then you can come up with me and talk to Mr. Williams, he'll straighten everything out."  
  
Just then the elevator bell sounded indicating that it had finally arrived at their floor. When the doors slid open who was to be standing there but our faithful hanyou, Inuyasha. He had been waiting downstairs in the basement until he smelt Kagome come into the building. He then waited to get on the elevator that she would be getting on as well, but when he arrived to see the face of the woman he loved, there was a security guard flirting with her. Being greeted by a surprised but happy smile from the said woman compensated him. Just as he was about to say his good morning to her she turned around and talked to Ryo.  
  
"See now I can prove it!" She turned back around stepped into the elevator that was now only occupied by herself and Inuyasha and held the door open. She met eyes with Inuyasha and asked, "Mr. Touken, is it not true that I have been working here as of yesterday and that I am a employee of your bank that does not seek harm?"  
  
Inuyasha raised a confused eyebrow, "Of course you work here, you're working under Mr. Williams. . . you've forgotten already?"  
  
"No, no, just needed to prove that I work here to this security cautious guard of yours. He does his job well." She let go of the elevator door and it began to slide shut, but just before it was fully closed she called out to Ryo. "I'll make sure to get the security pass so as not to run into the same problem!"  
  
Ryo blushed, "You do that."  
  
With the doors closed the elevator started making it's long and steady journey up. Kagome was contented in the silence, until she heard Inuyasha growling. She turned to look at him. "What is it now?"  
  
Inuyasha growled some more.  
  
"What did I do now? What, are the clothes I picked out not to your liking?" Kagome was getting irritated by now. This was a routine that happened so often when she was venturing through Sengoku Jidai looking for shards of the Shikon no Tama.  
  
"Why were you flirting with Ryo?" He grumbled out, much like how he used to when he mentioned her being too nice to Kouga.  
  
"You have got to be kidding me Inuyasha! I wasn't flirting with him! You think that me talking to another person of the opposite sex is flirting!" Kagome fisted her hands and settle them on her hips.  
  
"He was trying to get in your pants."  
  
"News flash! I'm wearing a skirt!"  
  
"Even worse! It's easy access!" Inuyasha was now yelling as well, and it was a surprise and their luck that no one was trying to catch an elevator.  
  
"Oh my God! Don't tell me you were thinking about that the whole time when we were traveling together! You thought a skirt was easy access?!" Kagome was also yelling and they were facing off, much how they used to.  
  
"Well, that's how guys see skirts! The only thing we have to do is lift up the skirt and there you are!"  
  
"You're being ridiculous!"  
  
"Ridiculous?! Do you know how many guys I've had to fight off so that they wouldn't try anything on you when we were traveling?! Could you blame them with your short skirts?!"  
  
"Are you saying that I want to draw attention to myself?! Granted, in the Sengoku Jidai it might have been a little on the short side but here in this time it's perfectly normal!"  
  
"Fine, whatever." Inuyasha huffed and leaned against the wall of the elevator. "But you still shouldn't have been flirting with Ryo."  
  
"I wasn't! I was just talking to him! And what makes you think that I was flirting with him?"  
  
There was a pause then Inuyasha spoke, "We don't use security passes here."  
  
Kagome froze in her movement, "Oh."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"When will your replacement be taking over your position completely?"  
  
"The set date is November 20th."  
  
Kouga and Mr. Williams had been discussing the actual change in company status that was to be occurring for the past half hour. They were finally getting into the specifics with Kouga readily writing everything down on a legal notepad.  
  
"Who is authorizing the change?"  
  
"Mr. Touken." Instead of scribbling down 'Inuyasha' Kouga wrote down 'Inukkoro.' (the translators say it's 'Dog Turd')  
  
"What's the full name of your replacement?"  
  
"Oh that would be Kago-" Mr. Williams was cut off when he noticed his office door opening. "May help y-. . . Oh Kagome-kun! Just the lovely lady I wanted to see!"  
  
Kouga caught her sent immediately and turned his attention toward her. She was walking to the office saying her morning greetings to Mr. Williams, still having yet to notice him.  
  
"K-kagome?" The wolf demon was gasping out as he looked upon the grown up miko.  
  
She finally noticed that someone else was in the room and looked toward the source of the voice. The two young people locked eyes, each pair widening with surprise. Kagome's face spilt out in a smile and hugged him while he was still seated. "Kouga-kun!"  
  
"What are you doing here Kagome?" The thoroughly confused youkai asked.  
  
"She's my replacement. How do you two know each other?" Mr. Williams was also smiling, his eyes crinkling in good humor.  
  
"Uh. . . well, you see. . . we. . . yeah, you know!" Kouga was at a loss for how to explain himself. What was he supposed to say? 'Oh, we met in the Sengoku Jidai when she was traveling with Inukkoro.' 'Damn! I should be able to make up better lies than this! I'm a lawyer for god sakes!' (no offense to lawyers)  
  
"Oh, Kouga-kun and I go way back! If memory serves me correctly I was. . . what was the title he used? I think I was 'his woman.'" Kagome answered cheerfully as Kouga-kun looked at her dumbfoundedly and Mr. Williams just kept on smiling. That was until they heard a growling voice from the office entrance door.  
  
"The hell you were."  
  
The three occupants turned toward the voice seeing a white hair livid hanyou standing in the doorway.  
  
"Hello Mr. Touken, how may I help you?" The oblivious Mr. Williams cheerfully spoke through the thick air.  
  
"Just came to check up on Miss Higurashi's progress." Inuyasha was struggling to keep his tone civilized while speaking through clenched teeth.  
  
"She is doing very well, a fast learned this one is. Oh, and amazing news! She has met what seems to be an old boyfriend of hers." Man this guy was naïve.  
  
"He's not an old boyfriend." Inuyasha was now glaring at Kouga.  
  
Seeing the challenge in the hanyou's glare the full youkai smirked and spoke, "Of course I am. Kagome and I used to be very much in love, we only broke up because it just wasn't the right time."  
  
Kagome was now standing there with an amused expression on her face, making no move to stop the on coming quarrel between the two young men.  
  
"You guys never went out!"  
  
"How would you know this Mr. Touken? Oh! Were you the jealous best friend of Kagome that is still upset of letting a lovely lady slip past him?" The old man said teasingly. Heck, he had nothing to worry about, he had always gotten along with Inuyasha and he was retiring in a month. It was Inuyasha's big loss if he fired him now.  
  
"Why thank you Mr. Williams, at least someone thinks I'm worth while." Kagome smiled at him.  
  
"Oh! And so the plot thickens! From where I see it the past went something like this: Kagome-kun showed an interest to her best friend, Mr. Touken, but he did express that he returned her feelings. And so our distressed damsel moved on and found our dashing lawyer, Kouga-kun. When the sparks started flying Mr. Touken, who was still Kagome-kun's best friend became jealous and confessed his undying love to her. But alas! It was too late! She and the aforementioned dashing lawyer were very much in love and had even planned to ride of into the sunset together. Then! The heroine realized the day before they rode off that she still harbored feelings for our bank CEO. With that she told the dashing lawyer that it just wasn't the right time for this. When she ran over to the apartment of her best friend, she was met with an empty apartment, for he had left to move away for he did not think he could live knowing that he had lost her. The three went their separate ways until a faithful day, much like one today, they were once again reunited by the power of fate!" When Mr. Williams finished with his story Kagome was teary-eyed.  
  
"You guessed it perfectly Mr. Williams! That was a lovely story."  
  
"It is your story Kagome-kun, it should be told to the world. Let us sell it to a movie company so everyone can know the hardships you have faced."  
  
"Hey, hey! That's not even close to what happened!" Inuyasha was yelling once again.  
  
Kouga slung an arm over Inuyasha's shoulder and gave out an exaggerated sigh, "Do not lie Inuyasha, that is how the story goes. Our love triangle is not simple one Mr. Williams, it is a thick and complicated mesh of spider webs that can easily be torn if Kagome was to forget about dog boy and come with me!"  
  
"I could never choose between the two of you! Instead, I must choose a fourth party!" Kagome was now speaking in a dramatic tone, one used most commonly in Soap Operas.  
  
"A fourth party? Whoever could this fellow be?" Mr. Williams seemed to be really getting into the whole thing now.  
  
Kagome turned to him grasped his hands in hers then said in the same dramatic way, "Let US ride off into the sunset Mr. Williams! It is fate that have brought us together!"  
  
The old man laughed, "Yes! We shall! We are meant to be Kagome-kun! I can no longer be denied! Let us venture off and find a new happy life for the both of us!"  
  
Kouga was chuckling now, his arm still slung across Inuyasha's shoulder. Inuyasha was seething, even with the talk of Kagome riding off into the sunset with another male made him livid. But his emotion soon changed as he saw Kagome break out into an all out laughter.  
  
"Ahahahahaha! You're so funny Mr. Williams! That's what I love about you, we click on the strangest level!"  
  
"I kid you not my fair lady! But remind me to pick up my wife on the way to the sunset."  
  
Now Kagome, Mr. Williams, and Kouga were bursting out laughing at the silly situation. Inuyasha, however, was not laughing but he was no longer angry. He looked on at the three, more specifically Kagome, and felt slightly depressed.  
  
Inuyasha never knew that Kagome could laugh like that. Sure, they had shared smiles and laughs in the time they spent together but never a full- blown laughter like the other three were having. He just knew how to make her cry. He knew what Kagome's most sad, angry, and hurt expressions looked like, but did not know the one where she was most happy. He wasn't even sure if she ever was completely happy. He felt like a selfish bastard. He had felt complete happiness with Kagome multiple times already, and he had yet to give her one. When she had told him she would stay by him, regardless of his decision on her or Kikyou. When she was willing to risk her life by approaching him when he had turned full youkai. When she told him she liked him, the simple words that pulled him through the five centuries of loneliness. When she recognized him, sealing the deal of them being soul mates. When she had smiled him. When she reached out her hand to him. When she looked at him. When she cried for him. When she always said the right thing. When they had kissed. With the listed seeming endless in Inuyasha's mind he felt that he had let the woman he loved down.  
  
As the three continued laughing Kagome turned her head toward Inuyasha and gave him a full blow smile. His heart skipped a few beats as the glowing smile was directed at him. After a few seconds he gave a small smile as hope welled up inside of him. Hope, that one day he would be able to make her the happiest person to walk the earth. That was his goal now and he was set on completing that goal.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Okay, now Kagome, I'm going to have you sign a few documents." Kouga scooted his chair over slightly to sit next to her so he could explain where to sign.  
  
"Sure thing Kouga-kun." Kagome looked up from an account file that Mr. Williams had given her to look over and get familiar with. Since Mr. Williams', and soon to be hers, branch consisted of only a few top clients Kagome was in great need of memorizing each client. Touken Ginkou was known for their relationships with their higher clients on a more personal level. Mr. Williams was like a personal financial advisor and many of his clients were sad to see him go. Kagome was determined to make the transition as smooth as possible for both parties and tried to get to know the clients before ever meeting them.  
  
"For the first signature I want you sign right there." He pointed to a line at the bottom of the fourteenth page where Mr. Williams' signature already rested in a line before it.  
  
"What am I signing away here?" Kagome asked as she let her eyes skim through the contents of the pages.  
  
"That's the document that going to transfer all of Mr. Williams' responsibilities over to you. It also talks about your how much power you have and your restrictions within the occupation."  
  
"This is so weird." Kagome said as she quickly put her practiced signature at the bottom of the line.  
  
"This isn't weird. It's common procedure. It happens a lot when large positions in companies is to be replaced with a new employee."  
  
She let out a sigh as she finished signing and dating the document. "I don't mean the document. I'm talking about how you know so much about legal affairs and hearing you with a vocabulary that goes beyond hunting, beating Inuyasha up, and claiming me as your woman."  
  
"You thought I was stupid?" Kouga's voice held a bit of hurt in it and Kagome quickly corrected herself.  
  
"Of course not! It's just. . . I knew you were smart, as was Inuyasha. . . but I never thought either of you would ever become book smart."  
  
"I can see your doubts with Inukkoro but with me too? I'm hurt Kagome." This time his voice didn't hold the hurt like before but held humor within them.  
  
"Don't make fun of Inuyasha. He's still my best friend you know." Kagome huffed as Kouga brought out another document for her to sign.  
  
As he pointed to another line he spoke, "Is he only your best friend? Seeing that you have your memories back I thought maybe you would be more than that by now."  
  
Before her pen touched the paper she looked up at Kouga with a surprised expression on her face. "What do you mean by that? What does it matter that I remembered or not? You're not implying that I remembered while I was you know. . . sleeping with him or something?"  
  
"No! Nothing like that! I meant more along the lines of why you remembered. He did tell you didn't he?"  
  
"Tell me what?" Kagome was now grasping his upper arm trying to coax him into telling her.  
  
"The sort of terms-and-conditions in which will allow you to remember." He was now looking at Kagome as if he was stating the obvious. To everyone but Kagome it was the obvious. For all the time they had been waiting for her to be born and to come of age the rest of the group knew perfectly well what it would take for Kagome to remember. Her soul would have to want to remember and it would have to be soul mates with Inuyasha's soul.  
  
"He didn't say anything like that. . . I thought all the memories flashed back to me because I met him again and the photographs triggered my memory. . . is there something else that did it?"  
  
With the now desperate expression on her face he wanted to tell her everything that he knew just so her eyes would lose the lost look within them. Even so, he visibly swallowed in his dry throat and answered. "It's not my place to say. You'll have to ask Inuyasha about that."  
  
She faced down as she stared at the armrest of his chair. "I feel like I'm put in the dark again."  
  
"Inuyasha wouldn't do that to you if he knew how much this bothered you. Confront him and demand him to tell you. You have every right to know."  
  
Still looking down Kagome answered with her voice trailing with the evidence of on coming tears. "Thank you." A large intake of air could be heard as she straightened herself and sat back in her chair. "Now, about these pesky legal documents. Where else do you need my John Hancock?"  
  
Kouga watched her in admiration as she tried to appear strong. He flipped through the previously forgotten document and pointed to the line once again. "Here."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"So how was your day?" Inuyasha ripped through the uncomfortable silence that seemed to surround him and Kagome as they were in the car.  
  
"Fine."  
  
"What did you do?" He tried once again to get rid of the tension from the atmosphere but it proved futile.  
  
"Work."  
  
"Did you get all the legal matter over with? Or will I be seeing Kouga around the office some more?"  
  
"Yes." Her eyes will still trained upon the passing city scenery out the passenger side window.  
  
"Yes to which? The first or second question."  
  
"Second."  
  
Silence fell upon them again and the only the hum of the engine could be heard as Inuyasha maneuvered expertly down the streets of busy Tokyo. Much like the day before the two of them had been working until the late hours of the day and were heading toward Inuyasha's apartment.  
  
Unsure if he should attempt at a conversation once again he asked one more question.  
  
"Has your memory cleared up yet?"  
  
"You tell me." Kagome continued to stare out the window as she snapped at him now.  
  
The response he got from her surprised him.  
  
"Did I do something wrong?" He asked sheepishly and worriedly.  
  
"No." Her answer was forced out as her teeth were clenched together.  
  
"Then why are you mad?"  
  
"I'm not mad." Her answers were still clipped and hard.  
  
He pulled into his parking space at his apartment as she answered. As soon as the car was still Kagome unbuckled her seat belt and ready to get out of the car in a hurried motion when Inuyasha grabbed her upper right arm. (steering wheel on right side of car in Japan)  
  
"What's wrong with you?" His expression showed that he was frustrated now.  
  
"Nothing is wrong. Let me go, I'm tired and I want to sleep."  
  
His grip tightened a bit as he glared at her now, "Something is wrong. You're mad at me for some reason and I'm not letting you go to sleep until we settle this. Haven't you ever heard of the phrase 'never go to bed angry'?"  
  
"We always did in the Sengoku Jidai, who's to say we should change our method from now on? We fought, we went to sleep, woke up and acted like nothing happened. It was a daily occurrence. It seemed to work so let's continue on with that."  
  
He looked at skeptically, "Is this about something that happened back then?"  
  
"No. It's not about anything. Just let me go so I can go to bed." Her voice had yet to rise but by the tone she used it was obvious she was barely holding on.  
  
"I told you I'm not letting you go to bed angry."  
  
Kagome seethed at that statement and tried to tear away from his grasp. "If I remember correctly, that statement only referred to couples."  
  
At her statement of badly chosen words Inuyasha's grip slacked enough for Kagome to smash into the car door from the suddenness of him letting go. As she was rubbing at her shoulder that hit the window she looked up at Inuyasha. The look in his eyes was enough to kill her. Within them held pain and betrayal.  
  
"Inuyasha. . . that came out wrong. I didn't mean-"  
  
"You said exactly what you meant." He quickly composed himself and a mask fell upon his features. It was expressionless and he made quick work of getting out of the car.  
  
Kagome hastily followed him as he was making his way toward the elevator. "Inuyasha! You can't just walk away like that! You always did that! Whenever there was something you didn't want to talk about you insulted me or walked away! It's not fair!"  
  
He mechanically pressed the button to call for the elevator. "I guess we're one in the same. You can't accuse me of avoiding sensitive subjects when you did that as well."  
  
The doors opened and he stepped in with Kagome right at his heels. "Fine! We were both stubborn and young! Now that we're older, and hopefully more mature, don't you think that we wouldn't be able to work this out?!"  
  
"You're the one that didn't want to talk before. I'm just keeping up with your lead."  
  
"And yet you still don't know the reason for my behavior."  
  
"It's not my responsibility to know that when you won't tell me."  
  
"If you really love me you would know without me telling you!"  
  
Inuyasha whipped his face toward her with a scowl on his face. "Are you going to throw that in face every time we have an argument?! That I should know everything about you and that I should be able to read you with your attitude?! Are you going to throw into my face that I'm the moron that not only loves you but also is in love with you?! That I'm the moron that will never be loved back?! I don't need this crap Kagome!"  
  
Door had opened and he was about to storm out when Kagome suddenly pulled him back in making him fumble and slam against the back wall of the elevator as she pressed the door close button then punched in the red emergency stop button.  
  
"What the hell are you doing?!" He protested as he attempted to get up and open the doors.  
  
"Osuwari." He crashed in the floor of the elevator as Kagome sat down neatly in front of him with her legs tucked underneath her. A string of cuss words could be heard from Inuyasha that would make the worst of sailors blush. "We're not leaving here until we settle this. I lost you without knowing it for five years. I'm not about to lose you again just because we both are the most stubborn people on the face of the earth." Near the end evidence of tears was there in her voice.  
  
Inuyasha collected himself and sat with his legs bent and propped up in front of him as his back rested on the elevator wall. He avoided looking at her and stared at the ceiling. "You never lost me."  
  
"I know. . . I didn't have a chance to miss you because I didn't remember. I'm sorry. . . You went through the pain and I just popped into your life again with my memory that came back conveniently. . . I know you have doubts about my feelings toward you, but I have no idea how to settle them without lying to you and myself."  
  
"So you don't."  
  
"I don't know. . . I don't know if I love you or not. . . and I don't want to lie to you by saying I do when I'm not sure. . . it makes my feelings sound fake when I have to tell you that I have to think about my feelings, that maybe I should just know. . . but. . . there are things I do know." She looked at him with a pained expression as tears poured down the sides of her face.  
  
Inuyasha was tempted to just pull her into an embrace and tell her that it was going to be all right. But if he were to do that the two of them would be back at square one. They couldn't let this or anything else from then on to go unsettled just for the sake of not confronting the pain that would come from facing it head on.  
  
"I know how it felt the first time I met you. The first time you called me by my name. The first time you came to get me from my time. The first time you protected me. I know how it felt every time I saw you. Every time you called me by my name. Every time you came to get me. Every time you protected me. I also know how it felt every time you were with Kikyou. Every time you had a faraway look on your face when you thought about her. Every time someone mentioned her name. Every time I was compared to her. And now, I know that I felt these emotions because I cared for you so much. I care for you more than I care for anyone else. If anyone in my family, one of my friends from school, or our friends from the Sengoku Jidai were to die I know I would have cried and become sad. But I also know that I would have moved on. I know that if you had died I wouldn't be able to live anymore. I would have given up on life all together. How would I go on knowing that you were no longer there?" The tears continued on as they trailed down her cheeks. "I don't know if that's what love is but that's what I know."  
  
"Kagome. . ." He tried to reach over and pull her into the previously contemplated embrace but held back when he saw her scoot away.  
  
"I care about you so much that sometimes it hurts. It hurts when I know you're lying to me. It hurts when I know you're keeping things from me."  
  
"What am I keeping from you?" He was now trying to scoot over to her.  
  
"From how Kouga-kun talked about it's something pretty big." She evaded locking eyes with him and stared at the ground.  
  
His eyes widened, "What the hell did that wolf say to you to make you so upset?"  
  
"Kouga-kun is not one to blame here. . . he's not the one keeping things from me. You should be happy about this actually."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"He wasn't going to tell me because he said that it wasn't his place to say and that you should be the one to tell me."  
  
"Tell you what?"  
  
". . ."  
  
"Kagome?"  
  
Her gaze slowly made it's way to his. "Why my memories came back to me."  
  
He chocked on air as his eyes widened. "I-I can't tell you that."  
  
"See! You are keeping things from me!"  
  
"But you're the one that told me not to push you. I can't tell you that without it seeming like a push. Heck, it would be more like a shove!"  
  
"Better to be shoved by you then pushed by someone else!" Saying that she stood up pressed the emergency stop button again and the doors opened. She stepped out with Inuyasha fumbling to get up and catch up to her.  
  
"Are you sure about this? Once I tell you there is no going back. Can you deal with that?" He asked as he spun her around by tugging at her shoulder.  
  
"Yes. . . please just tell me. . ."  
  
Inuyasha took in a large intake of air as he tried to calm his nerves and get the courage to tell her. He reached for her right and hand and placed it over his rapidly beating heart. "Do you feel that Kagome?" Hers eyes widened slightly and looked up at him. "That's what you do to me whenever you're near. It's been like that ever since I saw you for the first time. At first I thought it was because you looked like Kikyou." He felt her flinch at his comment but he continued anyways. "But later, when I realized that you were Kagome and only Kagome something happened. My heart beat faster than before. Knowing that you were you and no one else made my heart beat faster. And now, with the thanks to Midoriko and Amaterasu-sama I know why it did."  
  
Kagome brought her gaze that had been fixed on where her hand lay to look into his eyes. They locked gazes and a thick silence hung over them as Inuyasha was searching in her eyes for an answer. When he saw that the answer was going to inevitably told to her, he let a small smile tug at his lips and leaned forward. He kissed her on the forehead, her right eyelid, her right cheek, then her ear. With the butterfly kisses being showered over her Kagome involuntarily shivered. He let out a hot breath that scorched her ear, as did the words that followed. "It beat faster because you're my soul mate Kagome. I'm your soul mate. We're soul mates."  
  
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ A/N: okay, about the price on the Versace clothing. . . clothes in Japan are expensive, forget brands, but if it was a brand imagine how expensive that is! I'm not even sure if the twenty thousand yen would be able to cover the price of the skirt and blouse! I have no idea when the next update will be so plz don't wait up. . . I mean, I will finish this fic. . . that's a long ways away but it will continue. . . hopefully the next update will take less than a month! 


	9. I don't want it to be you

THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN REVISED, I DIDN'T LIKE THE CONVERSATION BETWEEN KAGOME AND MR. ISHIBASHI. IT SEEMED TO FORCED. BUT BESIDES THAT NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED.  
  
Author Notes: Where have you been?! Right? I finished off 'Time Changes All' and I am now focusing on 'Remembering You' and am very excited! I have so many plans for this fanfic! We're still in the beginning of a long and winding road. While I won't be able to update for a month because I'll be visiting my family in Spain, I'll be writing in my notebook. I'll probably get three chapters done while I'm over there, and I'll just type them up and post them. After 6 months of waiting I hope I haven't lost you all. Well, without further ado here is the next chapter! Enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer: Inuyasha and Co. doesn't belong to me, but at the moment they reside in my basement. . .  
  
". . ." dialogue '. . .' thoughts (. . .) author's useless commentary  
  
I don't want it to be you  
By Hoshi-ni-Onegai  
  
#warning: curse words come up here and there b/c that's Inuyasha's character and I tend to swear in real life. . . sorry#  
  
"S-soul mates?" She pushed away from him, stumbling until her back came in contact with the wall behind her. Shaking her head from side to side Kagome brought her hands up to grasp at her head. Fisting her hands she continued to frantically shake her head. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!"  
  
Inuyasha's previous face of worry was replaced with that of hurt. He looked as if someone shoved the proverbial knife into his gut and twisted with all its might, and Kagome was the one tightly grasping the handle. "I told you it would be a shove."  
  
Looking up at him with hysterical eyes she took her hands off her hand and reached for the front of his shirt, with frightened pleading eyes she tugged at the fabric of his shirt. "Please tell me you're lying. Please tell me this isn't true."  
  
Inuyasha averted his pained gaze to the side, "I'm sorry, but it is. Sorry if I don't meet your standards as the ideal guy."  
  
Pounding on his chest with her eyes remained frantic. "It has to be some sort of mistake! You can't be my soul mate!"  
  
"You can't deal with the pressure, I get it! But I am your soul mate and you're just going to have to accept it!"  
  
"Stop saying that! You're not! YOU'RE NOT!" With a crushing grip she embraced him around the torso, hiding her face in the expanse of his chest. "I can't lose you. . . I won't Inuyasha, I won't."  
  
The content of her words confused the hanyou. "Lose me?"  
  
"I have visions Inuyasha." As she said that the door from the end of the hall opened, a nosy neighbor seeing what all the commotion was about. Before letting her continue, Inuyasha unlocked the apartment door and closed the door behind them after entering.  
  
With in the safe and more private apartment Inuyasha spoke, "What do you mean visions? Like hallucinations?"  
  
"No, I mean like premonitions or prophetic dreams. I didn't know how or why it started, but I began getting them when I woke from my coma. . . and so far all of them came true."  
  
"What does this have to do with anything?"  
  
The two were standing in the entrance hallway, neither making a move to go further into the apartment. Kagome looked down at her hands that she had been fidgeting since she entered. "I. . . I have a reoccurring dream where I meet my soul mate."  
  
"And it wasn't me in the dream? Is that it?'  
  
She rocked her head slightly as a sign of no, "I never see the person's face, but I know it is my soul mate. . . I just know. . . but that's not all of it. I'm standing there and the person, I guess you, have your back facing me. Then suddenly, you're hit by something and you land against me from the blow. The next thing I know you're breathing in your last breaths and you stop moving all together." Kagome stared down the empty hallway toward the inner confines of the apartment. "You're going to die Inuyasha, and in front of me if you're my soul mate. That's why you can't be him. Be my best friend, be my first love, be the love of my life. . . but, God, please don't be him. Please. I can't lose you."  
  
Seeing the gut-wrenching fear screaming from her gaze, he pulled her into his arms, protecting her from the world that seemed to constantly trying to cause her pain. She buried herself into his shirt as he had one arm around her waist and the other cradling her head.  
  
"I won't let them take me, I'm not going to die on you. Not today, not ever."  
  
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  
  
"Kagome's awake?!" The young looking foxing exclaimed over the phone line.  
  
"She was technically never asleep. . . although there was that coma. . ." Miroku had decided calling up Kaede to inform her of the recent happenings, when Shippou picked up the phone instead. Seeing no harm in telling the short demon, Miroku proceeded to do so before he got ready for bed.  
  
"Coma?" Shippou inquired.  
  
Giving out a sigh the monk turned doctor answered, "That part I haven't exactly been clarified on. Inuyasha called me, saying something about how they faked the two years after the well by saying she was in a coma. . . or was it the two years during her stay on the other side of the well? That would make more sense wouldn't it? I'm not sure on the details about that, but yes, Kagome does have her memory back. Granted, it's a bit jumbled, but she seems to remember everything. Just not in association or sequence, I'm sure she'll get it after awhile."  
  
There was a pause, then a: "Wow. Kagome's back."  
  
Miroku smiled, "I guess she is."  
  
Sango had just finished up in the bathroom and was pulling back the sheets to their bed. Miroku, not wanting to miss the opportunity of snuggling up with the girl, or better the taijiya of his dreams, he quickly dismissed Shippou and said goodnight. Hanging up the phone, Miroku padded his way over to the bed. Slipping in under the sheets, he looped an arm around Sango's waist to pull her toward him. The girl in question smiled up at him until she noticed his wide grin. "My dear Sango, how do you feel up to some exercise tonight?"  
  
Rolling her eyes she kissed him quickly, "You're such a corny lecherous monk."  
  
Miroku smile widened even farther, "But I'm your corny lecherous monk."  
  
"And don't you forget it." With that the couple initiated a passionate kiss.  
  
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  
  
"Kaede Baa-chan!" The rusty-haired fox demon bellowed from the hallway where the phone was.  
  
A cranky Kaede could be seen poking her head out from the entrance to the living room. "Good lords! What on earth are you yelling at the top of your lungs about this time? I am in no mood for your nonsense at the moment Shippou."  
  
"I never bother you with nonsense! Everything I say and do is equally relevant and important!"  
  
"Then there is little hope left for you my boy." With that she pulled her head back in the living room to settle herself upon the couch while looking through the inventory list of her store. Yes, even Kaede works, and Shippou helps out. When the question arose of how she would sustain herself, Inuyasha and the rest were willing to sustain her, but she would have none of it. Saying something along the lines of: "I'm too young to be dependent on someone else like an old hag." Everyone else is positive she is in denial or complete delusional. So, with out further dispute an herbal medicine shop was opened with Shippou assisting in running the small but occasionally very busy store.  
  
"What do you mean by that?!" Shippou exclaimed as he threw himself over the back of a couch to sit across from the old woman.  
  
Without looking up from the list she replied, "Last time you got this excited you discovered that Pocky was sold in more flavors besides chocolate."  
  
"Hey! That was a discovery! Kagome had only ever brought me the original chocolate kind. And speaking of Kagome, that's what I'm excited about." He casually swung his bare feet on one end of the couch as he settled his head on the other. Closing his eyes and now humming a tune.  
  
That had gotten Kaede's attention. Her eyes, or eye, wide with surprise. "Did Inuyasha finally go to her?"  
  
Shippou smugly peeked an eye open at her, "Oh now you want to here what I want to say? I thought there was 'little hope left for me.'"  
  
"Oh that? That still holds true, but Kagome is someone that concerns me as much as she does you. Now tell me sprout, did Inuyasha finally go see Kagome?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"No?" She quirked an amused and annoyed eyebrow.  
  
"She went to him."  
  
"She regained her memory before even meeting him?" The old lady seemed surprised, she was always under the impression that it would be something like: Inuyasha finally gets up the nerve to go see Kagome, the eyes lock, then poof! Memory presto.  
  
"Nope."  
  
Well, there goes that theory.  
  
"Then how did Kagome come to meet Inuyasha again?"  
  
Shippou shrugged, "I'm not entirely sure on the tiny details, but Miroku said something along the lines of a 'freakish coincidence.'"  
  
"But was it 'Memory presto'?"  
  
The full demon looked over at the aged miko strangely, "Huh?"  
  
"Never mind. Did Kagome get her memory back?"  
  
"Yeah, but it seems like some things are out of order. Miroku thinks it might be, because two years of memories being regained is too much for the mind to handle easily. But he also thinks that she'll be fine after awhile."  
  
Nodding her head in understanding she laid the list on the coffee table in between them. "This is much to take in, and much to finally give a sigh a relief about. I think I need a night's rest, I shall go give this information a night's sleep and think more upon it tomorrow."  
  
"Can we go see her tomorrow?" Shippou asked with eagerness.  
  
Kaede smiled kindly but answered, "I am not too sure about such rash actions. If memories are chaotic in her mind, we do not want to strain her with so much more. But, you may call Inuyasha in the morning to ask if we may go see her. If anyone were to know the well being of Kagome, beside herself, it would be him. Well, I bid you good night Shippou."  
  
"Okay. Night Kaede Baa-chan."  
  
With that the old miko left the room, Shippou stared up at the ceiling. After a long moment of silence a grin stretched across his face. "Kagome's back. . ."  
  
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::  
  
"Why am I leaving you at the curb again?"  
  
Kagome get out a slightly irritated sigh. "Didn't we go over this yesterday morning? Getting out of the boss' car early in the morning makes it seem like I'm the slut that slept her way to the top."  
  
"I don't think you're a slut." Inuyasha replied as he glanced at her from the corner of his eye.  
  
"Whoopee for me."  
  
The previous night's events did not put a damper in their rekindled friendship. Kagome was eternally gratefully that Inuyasha had yet to make a comment about him becoming her first love, or the love her life. What was she supposed to answer if a question arose? It just kind of slipped out? Yup, smooth, real smooth.  
  
Kagome glanced over at Inuyasha trying to figure out what was going through that head of his, but alas his face expressionless and only concentrating on the road. Looking out the window to the passing city scenery she tapped her nails against the armrest.  
  
Hearing the clicking sound of nails stop Inuyasha glanced over at her this time and saw the bored expression upon her face. What did she mean last night about the love of her life? Did she mean it? He looked over at her again as she was now picking dirt out from under her nails. "Oh that's attractive. That's what every guy wants to see, a beautiful girl picking at her nails."  
  
She faced him innocently, "What? I had gunk under there."  
  
He let out a sigh. Maybe what she said last night was a fluke.  
  
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  
  
"Then you have a meeting at eleven with Mr. Ishibashi, he's concerned about his account again."  
  
Inuyasha whipped his head with an annoyed expression to Miss Imai that had been telling him the day's schedule. "Again?! That man comes in here every week worried about his money! With close to a hundred billion yen securely tucked away, you'd think that man would kick back and relax with his money." He let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair, "Anything else?"  
  
Miss Imai continued to read through the list of things he had to do that day, and the deadlines he had to meet. It seemed like it was going to be a busy day for the modernized hanyou.  
  
"Oh, and you're having lunch with your brother."  
  
"Really?"  
  
He was surprised to say the least. Sure, Seshoumaru and he now got along as brothers should, or brothers that were once sworn enemies ever could, but having lunch? That was reserved as an annual event where Seshoumaru came to be civil, mostly because Rin forced him to. Can you say whipped?  
  
"Why am I eating lunch with the ice king?"  
  
"He said something about a miko friend that recently woke from a coma. Or was it a friend that was in a coma that miko woke up? Maybe a coma's friend that needed a miko? I'm not entirely certain but I'm sure your brother with tell you all about it."  
  
Slapping his hand against his forehead he gave a frustrated sigh, "Isn't it your job to keep me organized?"  
  
The forty-year-old woman tilted her head to the side, "I thought I was your secretary."  
  
"But isn't it in a secretaries job description to keep me organized?"  
  
She gave shrug, "Don't look at me Mr. Touken, I just answer the phone and get you coffee."  
  
"Fine. Is there anything else?" The sooner the woman left the sooner his blood pressure from stress would go down.  
  
"The photos you wanted developed arrived." She handed the white envelope toward him, "Like you wanted, I didn't take a peek and the boy that delivered it assured me that 'THE photo guy' developed it and was the only one to have seen the pictures,"  
  
"Thanks Miss Imai, I'll buzz you if I need anything else."  
  
She bowed slightly and left out the door but gave a final comment before she closed the door behind her, "Don't forget about your brother! And no, you can't cancel on him."  
  
"Fine!" He growled at the phone, the device he was about to use to call up his sibling to cancel and to ask what the hell he wanted. But alas, a middle-aged human woman wouldn't let him. . . Why the hell was he listening to her anyways?  
  
Inuyasha grabbed the receiver and dialed the number to Seshoumaru's cell. His brother was constantly out and about, rarely in his office, always going after another piece of old junk. . . he calls them artifacts. Keh.  
  
The other line was promptly picked up after the fourth ring, just a ring before going to voicemail. "What do you want Inuyasha? I was hoping you would give up after the third ring, but you were persistent. . . Are you in jail? Again?"  
  
"Hey that was a one time thing!"  
  
"Calm yourself, now what do you want? Contrary to popular belief my days don't revolve around you so get on with it."  
  
The cold voice of Seshoumaru washed over Inuyasha and he quickly shook it off. After knowing a guy for a couple of centuries they lose their intimidation, then again Inuyasha was never afraid of anything. That courage of was also the thing that got him in trouble most of the time.  
  
"I'm canceling our little lunch-in, our annual lunch date isn't for another four months. I don't need you to be spoiling my meal just because you feel like it. Anything you want to tell me, you can tell me over the phone."  
  
"It's about that miko of yours."  
  
"I know, Miss Imai told me. But I still don't see why you can't tell me right now."  
  
Letting out an uncharacteristic sigh Seshoumaru replied. "It's not just what I can tell you but what I can give you. I came across an artifact that is probably about your little miko, it's about what she is an reincarnation of."  
  
There was pregnant silence, "I'll meet you at twelve."  
  
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  
  
"And Mr. Ishibashi?"  
  
Kagome racked her mind for an answer when it quickly popped in her head, "He's the paranoid one!"  
  
"Very good Kagome-kun! I'm so proud of you, learning the names of our clients so quickly!" Mr. Williams wiped away a mock tear, "My little girl is all growing up."  
  
She smiled as she leafed through Mr. Ishibashi's file once again, "At least you can retire in peace. . . Hey Mr. Williams, why is it that Mr. Ishibashi is so paranoid? He's wealthy enough to feed Tokyo, buy an island that has imported giraffes running around, and lazy back on the beach for the rest of his life. I doubt his money is going to disappear on him."  
  
Mr. Williams smiled at Kagome's antics, although her exaggeration was partially accurate. "His parents were rich and living in America during the stock market crash, they lost all their life saving that were nestled into banks when they suddenly closed down. They went through difficult times and their life didn't look up when the Second World War started. Since they were Japanese, they were constantly discriminated. And so, they sneaked away on an oil tanker back to Japan. Mr. Ishibashi himself was born a year after their return. The war ended and they became modestly rich, some of their savings still within a bank that proved to be reliable."  
  
"Touken Ginkou?"  
  
"Yes, and Mr. Ishibashi took their modest richness and became ostentatiously wealthy. I guess his parents pounded their experiences into the man's head. He's as paranoid as anyone from the Great Depression and also a major packrat. Since his parents got back on their feet in Japan because of this bank he remains loyal to it, but he worries anyways."  
  
Setting down the file on the desk in front of her she rested her elbow on the armrest and tilted her chin against the resting arm. "What a peculiar man."  
  
"You'll be meeting with said peculiar man in about ten minutes."  
  
"What?! Why?!" Kagome whipped up her head with wide eyes at Mr. Williams.  
  
"He comes in every week to check up on his account with Mr. Touken. Miss Imai contacted me this morning about that, and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for you to go in my place." He good-naturedly smiled and walked around the table to hand the file back to her. He gestured for her to stand up when she did he steered her out by her shoulders.  
  
Before he closed the door she spun around in panic, "But I'm not ready! Why didn't you tell me earlier?!"  
  
He smiled, "I wanted you to be on your toes. Not everything is going to be able to be planned out before hand."  
  
"On my first try?" She asked exasperated.  
  
"No better time then the present."  
  
And so she was gently pushed out of the office and the door closed. She gulped down a nervous knot in her throat, "Oh crap."  
  
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::;  
  
The gray-haired short little man twitched in his seat as Inuyasha was bringing up the man's account on his computer. Inuyasha glanced over at the fidgety man, "You know, Mr. Ishibashi, your account probably hasn't changed much since last week."  
  
"That might be true, but we can never be too sure about next week. If I see signs of the economy going down the drain within the next few days I have to be prepared."  
  
Giving a bored sigh Inuyasha looked over at the computer screen that was finally loaded, "Well, from the looks of it your balance is stable and actually slowly increasing since you never seem to spend a cent of your money."  
  
"I can rest easily now. . . might I get a print out of my weekly report?"  
  
The hanyou nodded and printed the document out. It was the same every week, he would ask about the account then say he was relieved it was fine then he would ask for a print out. And write on schedule Mr. Williams would be walking through the mahogany double doors and reassure the quirky Mr. Ishibashi that his overseas investments were doing well. That man is going to be more rich dead then when alive, whoever inherits him is a lucky son of a gun.  
  
As the page was printing the door opened. "Hey Mr. Willa- Kago- Miss Higurashi?" Inuyasha was surprised to say the least. "What are you doing here? What about Mr. Williams?"  
  
She gave a professional don't-mess-with-me-now smile, "Mr. Williams sent me down, saying that this is the best time to get acquainted with Mr. Ishibashi."  
  
The skinny little man stood up from his chair and shook hands with Kagome that had made her way over to him. Mr. Ishibashi barely reached Kagome's shoulder and proved to be a comical sight when he gave a slight bow as he shook her hand. "Please to meet you Miss Higurashi. Not to sound rude, but may I know your position in Touken Ginkou?"  
  
Smiling down at the tiny man she responded politely, "I will be taking over Mr. Willaims' job when he retires. I will be the person you come to from now on when concerning your foreign investments."  
  
Giving a genuine grin he nodded, "It is nice to know that at least someone will be there to take over the spot. . . although I am still a bit skeptical on your credibility seeing that you are so young after all."  
  
"I understand completely. If I myself was in your place I would not so quickly trust a new employee either, I hold no offence."  
  
Inuyasha spoke up, "Rest assured Mr. Ishibashi. I wouldn't hire an airhead into a high position in the bank. And if you're still worried about her credentials you can visit Mr. Williams. He's completely convinced that she's the ultimate prodigy."  
  
The girl that was praised, in the most unusual way, glared flatly at the silver haired young man. "Thanks for that Mr. Touken." Looking back to Mr. Ishibashi she put on a more serious face. "Now, back to business. I wanted to talk to you about your Haitian sugarcane investments. So far, that market has done well to be stable and never dip down in price; however, I recommend selling your stock share tomorrow at the market. Then buy up some stock on the Procter and Gamble branch located in Cincinnati, Ohio."  
  
"Cincinnati? Where the hell is Ohio?" Inuyasha asked as he listened in on Mr. Ishibashi and Kagome.  
  
She glanced over at Inuyasha and let out a sigh, "Ohio is a state in the United States, it's located in the Midwest. Cincinnati is a city there."  
  
"How do you know about a P&G branch in a small city like that?"  
  
"It's my job to know. Now, Mr. Ishibashi, about your investments."  
  
The squinty old smiled, "I like the way you think Miss Higurashi. I appreciate how you already had something lined up for me after suggesting to me to drop the Haitian sugarcanes. You treat me like you've known me for so long. . . but, I would like to know. . . why do you recommend that I sell my stocks?"  
  
"A hurricane will hit the Caribbean, specifically Haiti. With the small drought that's been going on in Haiti, the sudden massive rains from the hurricane would no doubt destroy the plantations."  
  
"A hurricane? I didn't hear any news of a hurricane." Mr. Ishibashi inquired as he sat at the edge of his seat.  
  
"Trust me on this Mr. Ishibashi, a hurricane will strike."  
  
After what seemed like a long moment of thought the petite man nodded, "Very well. I'm still not rally sure about you, but since my Haitian investments are not that large, I'll take your word for it. I'll go done to the market in the morning when it opens. If this turns out the way you predicted I can see a bright friendship between the two of us." Glancing at his watch his eyes grew wide in panic, "Oh dear! I have to be heading down to the hospital for my check up." Facing Inuyasha he bowed, "I'll see you next week Mr. Touken and Miss Higurashi, it was a pleasure meeting you." Quickly shuffling out the door without waiting for a response Kagome and Inuyasha were left alone.  
  
Kagome looked blankly at the door the tiny man left out of, "That was. . ."  
  
"Weird?" Inuyasha finished for her as he closed down Mr. Ishibashi's account window. "Get used to it, he's always like that. You'll be going through the same thing next week."  
  
"I know, he's the paranoid little old man." She seemed to contemplate something and she gave a nod after coming a decision, "I like him."  
  
Glancing over at her from the computer screen he raised an eyebrow, "He's not a bad guy, but after having him come in every week asking the same questions for thirty years you kinda get annoyed."  
  
Tilting her head back to give a slight stretch she gave a sigh, "Well, I guess it's back to training with Mr. Williams." As she stood up a question popped into her head, "Why doesn't anyone wonder why you don't age? You've known Mr. Ishibashi for thirty years and he doesn't think it's suspicious?"  
  
Inuyasha shrugged, "The question never came up with the human clients, and youkai ones just think that I'm one of the slower aging youkais."  
  
"How convenient for you." She responded sarcastically. She headed toward the door but before she turned the knob she turned around. "Oh, I almost forgot. I'll be going home early today."  
  
"Huh? Why?"  
  
"Mr. Willaims is making me. He says that I need to have a life outside of work so I agreed to leave by six."  
  
She was about to leave out the door when he replied, "I'll swing by your office at six then."  
  
"You don't have to do that."  
  
Inuyasha smirked, "It's Friday I should at least take you out. That's what people in your time do right?"  
  
She looked at him as if he just confessed that he wet his bed, "It is your time too you know."  
  
He gave a genuine rare smile, "I guess it is."  
  
Shaking her head Kagome shut the door behind her.  
  
Inuyasha basked in the revelation and continued grinning, "I'm from Kagome's time."  
  
A/N: I'll see you all in a month when I return from my trip! Until then bye! Oh! And review if you have the time! o  
  
Thank to: manina, seikkyokuka, InuyashaFury, Ular, whiterose03, inuphoria, Sorakoi, Druken Little Monkey (cute nickname!), Kurai Mori, junyortrakr, Of Memories Past, Naiya-chan, Lauren321, Kagome-1990, Tsuki Karasu, Nitte iz, and Genki no Yuuki!  
  
SpaceVixon: I always have trouble keeping everyone in character. I'm glad you think I kept Inuyasha with his Inu-ness, I mean, how else could we have our lovable hanyou right?  
  
ME: I'm blushing at your comment. Thank you.  
  
Kenshin's Demon: You think this is the funniest story you've ever read? I should recommend some stories to you then, but I enjoyed basking in the praise. The basking was nice, but short-lived after I realized, "Wait, I can't be that funny." Oh, well. . .  
  
THANK YOU ALL! NOW CLICK THAT BUTTON! 


	10. Mortality for the Lonely Soul

Author Notes: Back from vacation! It was great! And regretfully I didn't end up with 3 chapters. . . I have the ideas down, but not the entire writing process. The story is getting more complicated, I'm having a harder time keeping things straight (says the author of the fic). There are going to even more twists and turns along the way but it'll clear up in the end. We are NO WHERE NEAR the end. I don't even think I'm half way through yet. So, please stick with me! Oh. . . and I'm trying to change the summary for this fic that I have posted. I don't think the present one really explains the fic well. . . if anyone can help me on this I'd be eternally grateful! Well, enjoy the chappie and leave a review! 

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and gang are not mine. . . there are only a limited amount of ways you can write this y'all

". . ." dialogue

'. . .' thoughts

**Mortality for the Lonely Soul**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

#warning: curse words come up here and there b/c that's Inuyasha's character and I tend to swear in real life. . . sorry#

"When you said you were going to take me out, this isn't exactly what came to mind."

The hanyou looked up at the miko with the epitome of innocent looks. "It's out isn't it?" Picking up the two objects before him he lifted them up to show Kagome, "Okay, now tell me, which one is the cabbage again?"

Letting out an exasperated sigh she took the lettuce and artichoke from his hands. Walking a few feet forward in the aisle she picked out a decent sized cabbage and into the nearly empty shopping kart. So far the only other item in the metal kart was a bag of onions.

"What exactly are you planning to make anyways? Stir fry or something?" She inquired as they were now headed toward the meat department.

Standing before the packaged meats he looked over the labels. "So do we use chicken, pork, or beef?"

"For what?! You won't even tell me what you're going to make!"

Inuyasha quirked an eyebrow at her, "Calm down Kagome, no need to stress your self out. I don't even know why you ask anymore, I'm making ramen."

"Again?" Picking up a packet of beef she dropped it in the kart. "Don't you want to try something new? Have you ever eaten anything besides ramen?"

Threading his fingers and putting them behind his head he walked, he shrugged in response. "Sure I have, but ramen is the only thing I can make. I'm not considered the world's greatest cook."

Giving out a sigh Kagome she put in a couple of packets of chicken, pork, and ground beef. She tugged the kart, that Inuyasha was pushing, toward the vegetable aisle once again. "I don't think your 'just add water' ramen technique counts as cooking." Selecting the basic vegetables, she went down to the fruit aisle, "At least you don't burn water."

"Water can't be burned, it turns in to vapor before that can happen. . . right?"

"Very good Inuyasha, now what happens when it goes below zero degrees?"

Detecting the mocking tone he playfully growled at her, "The same thing that will be happening to you when I lock you in the grocer's freezer along with the ice cream."

Rolling her eyes she tugged the kart toward the pasta aisle. "Come on my little hanyou, we're going to have you cooking in no time. A sworn bachelor has to know how to cook or your going to die from getting sick of ramen."

"I'm not a sworn bachelor. I waited centuries for you Kagome. Do you honestly think I went through everything that I did to live alone for the rest of my life?"

The shelves stacked with pasta, the aisle 3A was eerily quiet as Inuyasha's resolution echoed itself into Kagome's ear and down the aisle.

"W-what are you saying?" Kagome backed up a little her elbow knocking down packages of macaroni.

Inuyasha gave out a depressed sigh while a paradoxical small smile adorned his face, "I love you Kagome. . . Maybe, one day, when you believe me you'll understand all the other feelings that go along with it." He leaned down to pick up the macaroni then chose a packet of angel hair pasta and put that into the kart.

Looking up he saw the apologetic look, "I'm sorry Inuyasha. It's just that-"

He kept his smile reached out for her hand and lead her toward the cashier, "Come on, we've got to get home so I can cook a meal for eight people/youkai."

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"You were actually planning to make enough ramen for eight people? Well, it's really 6.75 isn't it. . . When you invite people to your house for dinner you have to put a little bit more effort than boiling a couple packs of ramen noodles." Kagome was rushing around in the kitchen, trying to make a simple meal of angel hair pasta in olive oil, garlic, and bacon along with a salad.

Being that Inuyasha was banished to the island in the middle of the kitchen he comfortably sat on the stool as he watched her running from fridge to cutting board to stove. "I was planning on adding those vegetables and meat you were talking about."

"Well I'm sick of ramen after three days. You know what, I enjoy cooking, I'll be making dinner from now on. I'll let you cook once every twenty days, that way we also eat your precious ramen."

Inuyasha grinned at what she just said 'I'll be making dinner from now on' it sounded like she was okay with living with him. "That's something I wanted to talk to you abou-"

The doorbell ringing cut his sentence short. Since she was still cooking, without looking up from the lettuce she was cutting for the salad, Inuyasha was sent to open the door.

Swinging the door open he let in Shippou who was incessantly ringing the bell and a calm Kaede. "What took you so long?!"

The fox demon raced in with so much as a hello and ran toward the soft humming that could be heard from the kitchen. Moments later a squeal of joy from the little youkai and a joyous exclamation of: "Shippou-chan!" could be heard. Kaede gave an amused smiled and headed toward to the kitchen as Inuyasha was about to close the door. Before he could swing it shut Miroku put his foot in the doorway and entered soon after with Sango, Kirara, and Myouga jumping up in the said fire cat demon's fur. After a few happy tears were shed and hugs of a distant memory shared. The guest were soon kicked out of the kitchen by a hungry inu youkai that was now breathing down the young miko's neck as he anticipated the pasta that was to come. When dinner was served (after Inuyasha was promptly booted off the position as cooking observer) everyone joyously reminisced about old times and gave explanations of new ones, at the long dinner table that Inuyasha barely ever used.

"When did you two get together?! I told Inuyasha that you liked each other but he thought I was imagining things!" Kagome looked at the mentioned dog boy with an 'I told you so look.'

Sango blushed, "Well. . . I think it was inevitable. I mean think about it, we were constantly traveling together. And with you and Inuyasha constantly fighting you kept on going home and he sulked at the branch of the Goshinboku. Then after you went down the well the last time Inuyasha left for two hundred years, give or take a few years, we were left alone. Sure, Kaede, Shippou, and Myouga was here with us but. . . I don't know, it was different. Since we were the closest in age within our montage we confided in each other, and I guess the years of pent up sexual tension had something to do with it as well."

Kagome giggled, "Miroku didn't have pent up sexual tension, he copped a feel ever chance he got. Well, then again you've got to take into account, that for him, it was subtle."

The group laughed as Miroku smiled proudly.

"So what have you been up to these five years my child." The older miko asked Kagome.

The younger miko smiled, "Mostly just studying. I really need a life. I went through school. I graduated this April from Tokyo University"

"At the top of her class." Inuyasha put in.

Kagome eyed him with a smirk, "Thanks Inuyasha. Anyways, I was working at HitoGin for six months then I quit last Friday and started Wednesday this week at Touken Ginkou where I met Inuyasha. Actually I met Touken Onii-chan, then there were those series of events that led me to gain two years of memory that's slowly coming clear. Some of it is a little hazy, but I'm sure that'll clear up."

"But, Lady Kagome, I heard you became involved with the Underground, how did this happen without any memory of the well or demons?" With Myouga's comment everyone was now curious of what Kagome would say.

"Oh that, that's no big deal." She waved it off as she took a sip of her water.

"No big deal?! You shouldn't be involved with something like that! Especially without me around! What would have happened if you went blindly into danger like you usually do?! What happens if you had gotten hurt?!" The sudden flaming anger of the hanyou greatly surprised the rest of the group.

And Kagome faithfully lashed back at him like old times. "It's not like I went looking for youkai saying, 'Here I am demons! One of the only mikos with actual power left on earth! What would be a better idea then killing me?! Come on! We'll make a day of it!'" She stood up abruptly, "Who the heck do you think you are Inuyasha to say anything! I went through dangers while I was in the feudal ear!"

Not one to not meet a challenge he pushed back his chair to now stare down at the shorter miko. "I was always there with you!"

"No you weren't! I remember times when I was near death because you went off running after your undead girlfriend!"

Shippou leaned over to whisper to Miroku, "They really haven't changed have they?"

Inuyasha was now yelling with rage and annoyance, "We already covered the topic about Kikyou! Fine! Yes, I did go after her but I was worried about her! She was a friend of mine! I never thought you would be in danger after I left you to find her!"

The little fox continued to whisper, "After the first couple of times Kagome almost got killed when he left for Kikyou, you'd think he'd never let Kagome leave his sight." Noticing that the hanyou heard his comment he shrugged, "Hey, there's no use hiding the truth."

"But I was the one that saved her every time that happened, doesn't that count for something?" He was slightly pleading with his eyes to Kagome while his tone and his facial expression betrayed nothing of his true feelings.

Letting out a sigh she sat back down in her chair, "I got involved with the Underground soon after I woke up. Even with all the studying I had to catch up with I was expected to help uphold the shrine. My grandfather is completely convinced that either Souta or I will take over the shrine one day. So, Souta is a priest-in-training and I'm a miko-in-training, but there was always a bit of a difference between Souta and I. He did the standard modern day training of not worrying about spiritual powers or anything like that. I was an entirely different story. My grandfather thought that it would be a good idea that I take upon the traditional art of archery, what a coincidence right? For me, well, for the me that didn't have memory of going through the well I didn't know how to shoot an arrow for the life of me. On my first attempt I hit dead center, and I took out the target and the tree it was suspended from along with it. My miko power came out without willing it. There were other times as well. I give tours at the shrine, telling them of legends and such. . . I told them about the legend between the hanyou and the miko that had been betrayed by an evil youkai." Kagome's facial expression dimmed a bit but soon returned to as it was before, pensive, "On one of these tours a child of about nine years foolishly climbed the Goshinboku tree saying that he wanted to be like the hanyou, then the child fell. . . head first into the stone pavement."

There was an audible gasp that went around the table. The image of a boy swinging his arms to maintain the balance that escaped him, then diving into the ground that would be his down fall. His skull crushing in and crimson blood forever staining the sacred place with his innocence forever lost with his final heartbeat.

"The boy should have died. . . but, he didn't. I ran to his side the blood oozing out of the cut on his head. His skull was completely deformed. . . I didn't know what to do, I yelled to anyone at all to call for an ambulance. When I faced back to the boy I ripped a piece off the sleeve of my robes and tried to clean the wound, then suddenly I felt something pulsing inside me. It was unlike anything that I had felt before, to my erased memory that is. A pinkish white light gently glowed from my hand that was cleaning his wound and the blood retreated back into his head, his skull falling back into it original shape. He suddenly gasped and his eyes shot open, and he sat upright as if waking from a nightmare. The boy stared into my eyes as if looking for something, he quietly smiled then said 'thank you miko-san.'

"Everyone else's memory was somehow altered. . . they thought I had caught him just before he hit the ground. Except for a boy that was about my age that saw me from across the shrine grounds, his memory wasn't altered. He stared at me wide-eyed as the group went on their way to the souvenir shop. He came toward me and grinned introducing himself, 'Hey, the name's Guy. I'm a tiger demon. And you, must be the legendary miko that has come to save us all.'" Poking at a leaf of lettuce she continued, "Guy's a good demon, I would trust him with my life. He introduced me to some of his other demon friends, but I got along mostly with Guy. We would hang out from time to time. Being that he was American, he taught me English and I corrected his Japanese. He was the one that persuaded me to major in English. He was also the one that introduced me to the Underground, not willingly or on purpose I may add. On one of the occasions we were hanging out a youkai attacked us, and one thing led to another and I became involved with the Underground. I mean, it hasn't been all bad. I've had a chance to control and build up my miko skills, and made a connection here and there."

"Guy? As in Guy Donohue that's head of the Underground police department in Tokyo?" Sango asked, being that her demon extermination was closely tied to the Underground police department.

Kagome looked over to the taijiya, "You know him?"

"Yeah, he's pulled me out of tight spots and I've returned the favor a couple of times. He's never mentioned knowing you or any miko for that matter."

Smiling she answered, "He's very protective of me, he tries to keep the people from the Underground away from me as much as possible. Guy thinks that anything youkai related should never happen to me while he's not there. He's watched my back, and now with my powers stronger I watch his."

A steady growling could be heard from the jealous hanyou. Ignoring Inuyasha with the short fuse Kagome started clearing the table. Seeing that she wasn't allowing anyone to help, he did anyways. He followed her into the kitchen with plates piled high in both hands and the salad bowl balancing on his head. The rest of gang filed into the living room as Kagome and Inuyasha were alone in the kitchen putting the dishes in the sink.

"Cut the cake and put them on six plates Inuyasha. I'll make the coffee." As she was reaching up in a cabinet to get the bag of grounded coffee beans she felt Inuyasha's breath on her neck. She whipped around and realized that Inuyasha had his claws gripping the counter on either side of her and leaning toward her, she was trapped. The closeness made her blush and stutter. "W-what's wrong Inuyasha." He was searching in her eyes and sniffing her. "What are you doing?"

"Checking if you have a smell of another male on you."

"Who gave you the right to do that?!" She fumed a vein pulsed on her forehead and shoved him away so that his back hit the island.

"I didn't want anymore surprises! Every time we talk about your past some new male name comes up! I would like to know who everyone in your life is!"

Kagome sighed, "That's a bit unreasonable, and possibly impossible. I already told you there is no one else that you have to worry about. Why are you always so jealous?"

He rested his forehead against hers, "Sorry, it's just the whole inu youkai thing, makes me really possessive."

She smiled kissing his cheek, "I know, I've always known." Turning around she went on to make coffee, "It was the only way I knew you actually cared about me when we were in the feudal era, Kouga is proof of that."

"Hey, then Kouga wasn't completely useless." He pulled out a knife and distributed the cake.

"Leave him alone, he was useful from time to time. I mean, he did give us his jewel shards in the end."

"His jewel shards?! Those were ours to begin with! That mangy wolf should have given us those shards to begin with." He huffed as he balanced the plates on his arms and head to only take one trip.

Seeing the circus-balancing act that Inuyasha was attempting Kagome ran over to him and quickly removed three plates. "Let's try using a tray shall we?"

"I have the balance of a tightrope walker!"

"Sure, sure." She thrust the tray that she had pulled out, now filled with plates of cake, toward Inuyasha. Pushing him out the kitchen she went back to preparing the coffee. "Now go entertain your guests before they get bored."

"I don't care if they get bored, it's just Miroku and them." Seeing the rolling of her eyes he shrugged and went to 'entertain' his guests.

"Cake!" As old as Shippou got, it seems he never really grew up on the inside.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"I'll meet you up at the lobby at 11:30 on Monday." Kagome giggled a bit, "I can't believe I'm making a lunch date with you Sango, it's like we're the best of friends in a contemporary world."

Sango smiled as Miroku was tugging her out the apartment door as everyone was leaving to return to their homes, "Why not? We've been through the killing of demons and bathing together to wash away the guts that splattered on us. I think we're close enough to have lunch together."

"I'll see you then! Bye!" The elevator door shut with the exterminator, old miko, flea demon, short fox demon, perverted monk, and a big-eyed fire car demon on the other side.

After closing the door Kagome turned around to see Inuyasha leaning against the wall on his side with his arms crossed in the entrance hall. "So how was dinner down memory lane for you?"

"Thank you Inuyasha, I really needed that. It kinda got me into the grips that everything on the other side of the well really did happen. It was nice knowing you happened, but everyone else was too fuzzy. I think my memory is clearing up. . . I'm still not really sure why I remember you perfectly but sketchy about everyone else."

She was about to walk past him when he stopped her by putting an arm out to block her path. He whispered, "Your memory came back because you were my soul mate and because your soul wanted to remember me. Not the well. Not the Shikon no Tama. Not Naraku. Not anything else. Me." The pained look in her eyes reminded him of the dream she told him about that morning, and the necessity to figure out what it meant. "I know you're scared because of your dream. . . but the fact that you wanted to remember me, I think, makes me the happiest hanyou in the world."

Kagome recovered from the memory of her dream soon enough and smiled gently, "You're too much of a smooth talked for you own good Inuyasha."

"Happy to be of service." He smirked as he allowed her to pass and followed her to the kitchen to clean the dirty dishes.

She handed him a clean kitchen towel she found in a drawer, "I wash, you dry."

He grudgingly stood next to her as she began scrubbing the plates, pots, and silverware. "I have to help?"

Hearing the whiny voice of the hanyou she glared at him, "I'm not doing all the house work! I will not be your bitch!" When he heard him growl she corrected himself, "I mean the bitch that gets stepped all over by men."

"Don't worry about those men, I'll be sure to push you out of the way before they lay a foot on you." Judging by his face it could be noted that he actually meant that seriously.

"Yay for me."

A comfortable blanket of silence fell over them as the clinking and clanking of dishes could be heard. The peaceful silence was abruptly interrupted as Inuyasha roughly and nervously cleared his throat, "Kagome, I w-wanted to talk to y-you about your living s-situation."

Passing him the last dish she rinsed out the sponge, "I wanted to talk to you about too. Being that it seems like you won't be letting me live on my own until the entire demon race dies out, I was wondering if we could swing by my place to get some stuff. It's getting old real fast, buying clothes every morning."

His amber eyes lit with joy, "So you'll live with me?"

She gave a casual shrug, "We were together all the time in the feudal era, it was practically like living together. This time, we just share the same roof."

Unexpectedly, she was picked up by gentle claws clasping her at the waist and twirling her around. Panicking, Kagome grabbed onto the overly happy inu youkai's arms. But seeing the smile on his face, she couldn't help but laugh out loud to his bliss. And so the kitchen was no longer within a confine of a comfortable silence but filled with two elated laughter from an unlikely pair: a lonely miko and an even lonelier hanyou.

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( Inuyasha's POV )

Now this is annoying. I'm laying on the same bed as Kagome, but of course she feels uncomfortable sleeping right next to me. Being that she's still figuring out her feelings for me. I turn to my side and open my eyes that sees perfectly because of my youkai blood. She's also lying on her side, facing me, but asleep. She snuggled under the sheets and comforter wearing one of my red t-shirts and gray boxer shorts. For some reason, seeing her wearing my clothes fills me with male pride. Don't ask me why. I gaze at her a while longer thinking: why the hell did I have to buy a king sized bed? Kagome made the rule of: you on your edge of the bed, me on mine. With such a wide bed, we're too far apart for my taste.

I glance over to the clock and see that it's three o'clock in the morning. We decided on waking up at eight o'clock to get her stuff tomorrow. . . err, today. If I sleep now I get five hours. . . that's more than enough time. I lay on my back now closing my eyes with my hands clasped behind my head, and I say into the night, "Good night Kagome."

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Where the hell am I? I'm standing in a small room and I feel liquid that reaches to my ankles. I can't see a thing. It's total darkness and my youkai sight doesn't help me now. What the hell is going on? I'm really not liking this feeling of not knowing where I am. Okay; breathe in, breathe out. Great, now I know what the liquid is and it doesn't surprise me that it's blood. Yay, how much more morbid could a guy's life get? I seriously don't get a break.

I reach toward the wall, and naturally, I feel blood is now on my fingertips. Wow, how much more cliché can this situation be? Fine, fine. What is this supposed to symbolize? All the blood I spilt as I killed during the feudal era? I figured it out already! Now take me out of this dream. I was waiting there for a long moment and nothing happened. I gave a tired sigh. Why couldn't I have dreamed about ramen or something like that?

I'm going to look for a door. I mean, a way out of the room could mean a way out of the dream, right? Groping around the wall I find a door. Thank the gods that have smiled upon me today. I'm turning the handle, which is luckily unlocked, when I hear Kagome calling me. I whirl around, letting the door slip open slightly. More of the crimson liquid flows in and now reaches up to my waist. But I'm not really worried about that, because the door let in a bit of light, enough to allow me to see.

There she stood in a black dress with cuts all over her body. There seemed to be a never-ending supply of blood that seeped out of her wounds and fill up the room even more. It seemed like her hair was wet and braided with blood. Red tears streaming down her face as she pointed at me with an accusing finger. In a hoarse voice she whispered, "Inuyasha."

The way she said it made it sound like a death sentence.

"Inuyasha."

And again.

"Inuyasha."

Again.

I reach out to her but she flinches back as if there was a barrier that suddenly went up in front of her. She brings down her pointing hand to her side.

"Kagome, what's going on? What happened?"

The frightening unearthly voice came out of her cut up lips, "You're the one that covered my life in blood Inuyasha. And you opened the door to get away from me. To let more blood wash into my life as you try to leave me with the burden. I'm not staying here in your life. I'm leaving. This isn't a life I asked for nor deserve. But you did both for yourself." Scarlet tears flowed freely down her cheeks. "You brought me to your ugly world and you won't let me leave. You won't let me go and return to my family, to where I belong."

She drops to her knees, which submerges her under the surface. I dive for her but I can't find her. I come to see if she came up but she's not there. She's not anywhere. The door is shut and locked from the outside. . . she's gone. . .

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Interesting dreams you're having mutt.

'It's you again. Who the hell are you?!'

Would you believe me if I said your inner self?

'My inner self wouldn't piss me off so much.'

How convenient for you. No conscience what so ever. No wonder you can't keep her happy. I have an inner self that continues to pester me even through the days and nights. It is what will please her. Pleasure her. In ways only a man could, ways you know nothing about.

'Don't you dare talk about Kagome that way ever again! She's mine!'

A possession now, is she?

'I'm the only one she belongs to though!'

You're degrading the woman you claim to love by making her something to be had.

'Something you don't seem to get is that she's mine, but I'm hers. She may not know it yet, but she will.'

You'll force her will you? She would come to me because she would want to. She would come for me as well.

'BASTARD!'

Now, now. It is only natural that she stray away from a half breed dog demon.

'Tell me who you are so I can come after you to kill your sorry ass!'

In due time Inuyasha, in due time.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

(Normal POV)

Instead of waking in a sweat this time he awoke quietly. The sun streaming in gently through the curtains, he saw that the time was a quarter till eight. He sat up and clasped his claws over his head. Confusion filling his mind on how this voice could get to him so easily. At first, he was reminded of Naraku, but he was killed in the feudal era. Was this voice really something from the outside, or maybe it really was his inner self? Maybe he just wasn't meant to be with Kagome and his subconscious figured it out already. Turning toward the slumbering girl that had unconsciously moved over closer to him in the night. He stared down at her, seeing her clean arms without cuts he let a sigh of relief, unknowingly thinking that she might be sleeping with the wounds he saw her with in the blood dripping room.

Swinging his feet so that he was now sitting on the bed with his legs over the edge he racked a hand through his hair. He glanced back at her, thinking over the conversation he had with Seshoumaru, Inuyasha mind was not at rest. 'She's not human.' How was he supposed to react to something like that? 'She's not human.' The conversation reeled through his head.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Flashback Mode::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"An arrow?" The inu hanyou twirled the object around like a baton, which was soon snatched out of his hands by the full inu youkai that happen to be his brother. "Hey!"

"I bring you an artifact that could change the life of your mate and you play with it like a plastic wand." Handling the centuries old relic Seshoumaru began with his explanation, "It's no ordinary arrow, it's a hamaya."

"What? One of those spiritual arrows you can get during New Year's for good luck?"

"Yes, but I believe the tradition started with this very hamaya. It is said to have shot down from the heavens when Midoriko was still yet to be born. It embedded itself into a clearing where a woodsman was going by. Seeing no one else around he believed it was a message from the gods. The news, somehow, spread across the near by lands and people gathered. People who were down on their luck and looked to the gods for help, or so they say. They were humans after all, too cowardly to blame themselves."

"Says the guy that's mated to a human."

Not giving his brother's comment a passing thought Seshoumaru continued, "Well, these people decided to build a sanctified shelter for the arrow, much like the well house you built. The hamaya was never to be touched and was to be housed within there for eternity. The humans that lived by the hamaya were known to have good fortune and live content lives. Many came from rural areas and slowly built a village, that grew to be a town, and today is named 'Tokyo.'"

"What does the creation of Tokyo have anything to do with Kagome?"

"The creation of Tokyo? Not much, the humans just surrounded the vicinity of the hamaya because they were foolishly superstitious."

Inuyasha now raised a suspicious eyebrow, "And also, how did you get the arrow if it was supposed to be in its shelter forever?"

Giving a shrug Seshoumaru took the little hanging prayer holding bag that was usually seen tied to a hamaya. "A youkai stole it a few centuries ago, and replaced it with a normal hamaya. No one seemed to notice, and so now after some negotiation I got the dragon clan to sell it to me."

The hanyou's eyes widened. "The dragon clan? As in the one that's part of the imperial family?"

"They are not easy youkai to negotiate with." Spreading out the archaic paper that had been tucked in as a prayer the older youkai continued gestured for Inuyasha to read it. "This. This is what has to do with your mate."

"Wakahirume, the goddess of the dawning sun and the younger sister of Amaterasu, was the reason for her sister's grieving. Resulting in Amaterasu to hide behind a bolder and took the light of the sun with her. The world was covered in darkness and youkai ruled, but the other gods were able to persuade the saddened Amaterasu out of hiding.

"The earth, now overrun with youkai the humans fought back. Alas, the youkai had the advantage of strength over the humans and so Amaterasu intervened. She decided that when the balance of good and evil was tipping in the malicious direction, a girl would come to save the world. The 'densetsu no miko'(legendary priestess) was to keep the balance, and sacrifice all she had to her cause. Her patron would be that of Wakahirume, whom Amaterasu sent her immortal soul to earth in a form of a tree. Wakahirume would watch over the densetsu no mikos through the centuries. When her time comes, Wakahirume will walk the earth once more so as to join with her divine family once again when her calling is completed."

After Inuyasha finished reading the prophecy he glared at Seshoumaru, "Okay, so Kagome has a patron tree. Woopee! Now I don't have to worry about anything do I? This really doesn't help. It also doesn't mention anything about what she was in her past life, like you said it would."

Seshoumaru continued to stare coldly, "This is the last time I am helping you."

"Like it was actually a tradition we be kept up with?!"

"But I do have a theory." The full-blooded youkai continued, "That your miko is Wakahirume. It is said in another prophecy that the densetsu no miko that complies with two callings in two eras is the final densetsu no miko. That is what your miko will do. She walks the earth to accomplish her two callings in her era and the feudal one, and then she will return to her family in the heavens. Your miko is the final densetsu no miko that will set the balance forever on good and evil. She's not human."

There was a pregnant pause that came between the two then a calm, "Okay, let's get this lunch over with so you can go back to your nice little insane asylum." Inuyasha abruptly stood up and slammed his palm on the table, "Because my Kagome is not a goddess!"

Seshoumaru shook his head in exasperation, "I understand your dislike toward the particular idea but it is possible."

Giving a menacing growl Inuyasha threw back his chair, scaring even further the other customers in the restaurant. "I don't need your bullshit! My Kagome is a human miko! End of fucking conversation!" With that he stormed out of the restaurant with his brother and the hamaya sitting at the table.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Flashback Mode Ends:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

'She's not human. . .'

As Inuyasha had been wracking his mind and soul for a solution to his tragic dilemma. Dilemma? Maybe that was sugar coating it a bit. There were forces at work that are far more powerful than he imagined. It was supposed to be a simple plan, relatively. Live through five centuries, then meet up with the girl of his dreams, defeat the evil for her second calling, get mated or married, and have a few kids running around the house that he could call his own. But no, the Fates were never really kind to him. Not a single considerate snip or sowing in the tapestry of destiny for his favor. It was amazing the things that came at him; maybe this one was the worst.

While he had been thinking about his discoveries at lunch the day before, Inuyasha had made his way toward the bathroom. Turning on the shower at a scorching heat he allowed himself to be pelted by the water as steam filled the room. Supporting his hands on the wall he bent his head so that the water could cascade down his shoulders and back. He was exhausted from what life was throwing at him. 'She's not human.'

Granted, Inuyasha himself wasn't human but this was an entirely different matter. If Kagome truly is a reincarnation of Wakahirume, then there is no hope for a happily ever after for her and Inuyasha. Any normal guy in the world would agree vigorously that the girl they loved was a goddess. But any slightly spiritually educated guy would try to deny it with all his might. There are rules in the divine world concerning gods. And one of these rules would be that a god or goddess was forbidden to fall in love with a mortal. In reality, nothing would happen if they did fall in love with a mortal but that was only a rule set in place for precaution. The actual danger was if a celestial being was to consummate their love with a mortal, death would consume the being and its soul burned in the fires of the deepest level of hell.

Inuyasha knew that mating, or basically sex, wasn't everything. Actually, at the moment it meant very little for the fragile so-called relationship he had with Kagome. But Inuyasha also knew that sex was something. He loved her enough to be able to swear to never touch her, just as long as he was allowed to be by her side forever. That was asking too much though. If the prophecy was true on her returning to her heavenly family, there was no way for him to stop them from taking her away.

What right did he have to prevent her from leaving? What right did he have to have fallen in love with an untouchable goddess? He did not doubt that he was her soul mate, because the connection between two souls is a power greater than any god or goddess had ever possessed. But that did not cancel out the fact that she may be a goddess and he, a mere mortal hanyou.

Freezing water streamed down his back and so he shut it off. Sliding open the shower door he stared at the reflection that stared back at him from the mirror. "Life was supposed to be easier than this. . ."

A/N: The story about how Tokyo was built is complete and utter bullshit. That is not how it happened! I just made it up for the story, PLEASE do not take SERIOUSLY! Also, I made a whole lot of crap up for the part about the Japanese myths. Don't get me wrong, most of the basic myth is true but about Wakahirume becoming a tree and being a patron and about Amaterasu balancing the world with a chosen girl? Nope, this isn't Buffy the Vampire Slayer you know. The thing about gods being forbidden to mate with a mortal? Uh. . . I made that up. . . There is some truth to it but most of my story is half truths and whole lies. If you would like to know about Japanese mythology I suggest you look into it, because I'm no expert. But I did a butt load of hours of research to have my basis. I would just type in "Japanese Mythology" in google if you're really interested. Well, see ya next time! (plz leave a review too, love to hear what my readers think of my fic!) o


	11. Settling In

1Author Notes: Where hell DO I disappear to? Honestly, even I have no idea, but here is my latest chapter. . . finally.

If no one has noticed the (. . .) A/Ns are gone now. I have learned to not put them in the story. And there will be NO MORE TRANSLATIONS, no Japanese will be used. (Except for terms like: hanyou, miko, taijiya, youkai, shikon no kakera, etc. even I can't get out of the habit of using these. . . I read the manga in Japanese ppl, to me, these characters don't speak in English) I have had enough complaints about that to realize that a lot people found it a pain in the ass to read around. Some people liked it, a lot didn't. Also, being that this story is completely in English it started sounding weird to me as well. . . I've spent too much time in the US I suppose. My writing can only get better right? Well, this chapter is not one of my favorites but it sets up for future events. It's not too bad though. Enjoy! And remember reviews are always welcome (and encourages me like a politician with a loophole)

Disclaimer: Inu and the gang don't belong to me. I was contemplating this a couple days ago. . . then realized, I own nothing. Even this computer, was given to me by my dad. . . I need a job. . .

". . ." dialogue

'. . .' thoughts

**Settling In**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

#warning: curse words come up here and there b/c that's Inuyasha's character and I tend to swear in real life. . . sorry#

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Breathing erratically and shaking Kagome held the key in her hand. "Okay. I can do this."

"Are you sure you don't want me to open it for you?" Inuyasha asked as he stood behind her worriedly.

Taking a deep breath she replied, "No, I'm fine. . . Okay, maybe I'm not. But I have to do this." She slipped the key into the lock, "It's my apartment, I can't be afraid forever."

"It's perfectly natural after what you saw the last time you went home."

"We saw things like that all the time in the feudal era. I should be jaded by now." She turned the key and gripped the knob.

Settling a reassuring hand on her shoulder he replied, "I hope you never become jaded to those things. Death shouldn't be something you get used to."

She tilted her head toward him slightly, "Thank you Inuyasha." Facing back at the door she schooled her expression in a nervous frightened hard mask. "Here it goes. . ."

The door swung open, and it could be seen that the apartment was the cleanest it had ever been. The walls free of any sign of blood, the carpets as well. The sun streaming in, instead of the eerie moon of the other night made the place seem like an entirely different place. He couldn't help but notice the differences that were obvious between his apartment and Kagome's. Inuyasha had never really cared about his apartment; it was just somewhere he went to sleep. He got home late and left early, the only thing he really needed was a stove to boil water for ramen and a bed. His apartment had a slightly cold atmosphere to it. It was gray and black, no decoration whatsoever except for the picture frames of him and Kagome that he had in his bedroom. If there were a word to describe his place it would be bleak. Kagome's apartment was entirely different story. Even though a guy lived there as well it was very feminine and homely. Granted, Hojo did end up being gay, but that shouldn't matter right? Maybe it wasn't too feminine. Warm earth tones were used for the furniture, and comfortable style of finish decorated the living room. The kitchen cabinets were shade of olive and the splashes of beige that made it so the kitchen wasn't overly green. Her bedroom was whitewashed, with a feel of the ocean to it. It felt like a home, and it was welcoming unlike Inuyasha's.

Breathing deeply she gave a gentle smile, "Welcome to my home."

"Uh. . . thanks?" Following her in as he looked around.

"Let me go change so I can return these clothes to you. I probably look like an idiot practically swimming in your clothes." Since all the clothing that she had at Inuyasha's had been blazers, skirts, blouses, and heels she had ended up borrowing some of his clothing. Wearing an oversized red t-shirt, a pair of jeans with a belt at the smallest notch so that it wouldn't fall, and a pair of far to big flip-flops, Kagome was a sight to see. But again, seeing her in his clothes gave him a sense of possessive male pride.

"No, you look good."

She looked at him flatly, "You have got to be kidding."

She turned to go to change when Inuyasha answered with a shrug, "Forget about your clothes. We should get this done as soon as possible. No sense staying here longer than necessary."

"I guess. . ." Looking around the room forlornly, she began to pack up.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?" His eyes were still on the road as Kagome asked a question.

"Where are we going? This isn't the way back to your apartment."

"I know. We're going to a house I own. If you're going to live with me, we'll need more room."

"You own a house?" She seemed shocked by the new discovery.

The dog demon raised an eyebrow, "I also own a bank Kagome. There's no big surprise if I own one measly little house."

"You're too rich. The last time I saw you, you didn't have a yen on you. But now, well, it's mind boggling how wealthy you are."

"Is that bad?" He asked curiously and earnestly.

"No, not really. I really don't care about money. It's just. . . you seem displaced from your element. I remember you leaping through the forest and sniffing at the ground, not worrying about his multi billion dollar bank."

"Sniffing around?" The distaste for the particular description was clearly evident in his tone of voice and facial expression.

"Oh come on, you sniffed the ground a couple times in your day. To find me when Kouga kidnapped me the first time, and a couple times after that to catch a sent of Nara-" She trailed off as her eyes went wide.

Inuyasha glanced over at her while keeping control of the road, "What? What's wrong?"

She turned in her seat to stare at him, "I forgot about Naraku. We killed him didn't we? Oh my God. . . he's gone."

An expression of confusion appeared across his face, "You seem upset by that."

"No, I'm not. Definitely not upset that the sick bastard is dead and gone. . . but it's just. . . I don't know. It's so surreal now. I mean, technically, for me it's only been this sensation of five days since Naraku died. What am I supposed to do with myself now? There were two things I was useful for. One, was to detect jewel shards. Two, was to shoot the occasional arrow at Naraku putting him in recovery mode for a while. I have no purpose in life."

There was a long silence, and when Inuyasha stopped a traffic light he tapped Kagome on the head. She looked at him with a surprised look. "Where the hell did you get an idea like that Kagome? Your only purpose wasn't to find jewels and shoot arrows. You were there to keep Shippou from annoying me, making sure Miroku didn't grope Sango too much, give Sango female companionship while bathing, smack Myouga around with me, humor Kaede's senile nature, and prevent Kouga from being beaten to a pulp."

"Those seem like menial tasks."

"How about being my friend? There were a lot of times when I wouldn't have made it through without you. You constantly motivated me to keep fighting, and you're the reason why I didn't want to become a full demon anymore."

There was no answer, and he worried that he upset her even more. Looking over at her he saw that she had a wide smile adorning her face, with her eyes sparkling from oncoming tears. Tears of a person that finally felt like she found where she belonged.

Like she found 'him.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"This is your measly little house?"

Inuyasha nonchalantly shrugged as he hauled a couple boxes out of the trunk. "I bought it a couple years ago when one of my clients was selling his house. We had always gotten along fairly well, so when he was in a tight spot to sell this house quickly so he could move to France I bought it off him. I needed a house anyways."

"Inuyasha, this" she pointed to the residence, "is NOT a house. This a mansion!"

"It's not that big."

Kagome dragged out a heavy suitcase from the back seat along with a duffle bag. "How many bedrooms do you have?"

"Ten? Twelve? I'm not sure. I don't make it a mission of mine to count."

"See! In Japan, four bedrooms is huge and you have a possible twelve?! My God. . ." With the suitcase and duffle on either side of her she looked back at Inuyasha who was skillfully balancing four cardboard boxes and a messenger bag. "I'm going to get lost in there aren't I?"

"Maybe." He made his way over to her and picked up the suitcase along with the piles of other things, "Come on let's put this stuff down."

Sighing she hefted up the duffle and climbed up the steps to large double doors to Inuyasha's house/debatable mansion. "Do you possibly have a map for this place?"

"Just follow me, and if you do get lost and I don't see you for a couple days I'll send out a search party."

"How about I just holler for you?"

"That'll work." Amazingly pulling out his keys while still maintaining balance, he opened the door and led her in. "I guess welcome to my house."

"Wow." With the bag still shouldered she twirled around to get an overview of the massive entrance. "This place is huge! And decorated!" With the momentum of the spin and the duffle she ended falling on her butt. Looking up toward the ceiling she rubbed her aching posterior. "Ow."

Shaking his head he gestured toward the stairs as he climbed up it, "Come on clumsy. Let me show you your room."

Glaring at him for not helping her up she crawled her way to the stairs to lift her self up. Dragging herself up the stairs with the heavy duffle, she could only wonder how Inuyasha was taking the steps four at a time with four boxes, a messenger bag, and her dead weight suitcase. Reaching the top of the stairs she noticed that Inuyasha was already down to the end of the hall and waiting for her.

"Pick up the pace wench."

Snarling she stomped down the hallway, "I'm coming, my God, there is no need to run."

"I wasn't running bitch, it's not my fault if you're so slow. You were slow in the feudal era too."

Looking at him flatly she brushed past him, "When the traveling companions include a half demon, freakishly athletic monk, and a professional demon slayer I don't think I should worry about keeping up with them." Going down the hall she turned her head toward him, "So which one is my room?"

"The last door at the left."

Reaching the door she swung it open to be met with a large room decorated in basic white. A large queen sized bead with the head post made out of curving vine-like iron frames, a dresser and nightstand going along with the bed's vine feature. The floor was hardwood; there was a door to a large closet. At the end of the room was a pair of French doors that led to a balcony. "Wow."

"You already said that."

She ignored him and continued to stare in awe, "This is probably what heaven looks like. All white."

"Too white?"

She shook her head, "I love it."

He smiled, "Good to hear. Well, I'll leave you alone to get settled. If you need me just go up the stairs to the third floor, it's the first door at the top of the stairs."

Before Kagome could turn and answer the door closed and she was left alone with her duffle, suitcase, and four cardboard boxes filled to breaking point. Shrugging she went to the first box to start unpacking.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Setting the messenger bag down, Inuyasha lay down on the bed. He allowed his concealing spell to come down and his familiar dog-ears appeared to the top of his head. He swerved them around, feeling as if they were severely out of practice. His body wasn't tired, they had no reason to be, but he was emotionally drained. The possibility that Kagome might be a goddess still reeling through his head. How was he supposed to figure it out if that was true or not? Call up Amaterasu and ask her? Maybe Midoriko, she seemed to know a lot. . . then again how would he contact her? 1-800- MIDO-RIKO? He doubted it. He stared at the phone. . . maybe? No, not even Midoriko had the power to get an eight-digit number.

He sighed, too much angst for his sensitive hanyou soul. Then he snickered, sensitive? Maybe not. He killed enough demons in blind rage to know he was not a soft cookie. He knew he became softer through the years, but mostly toward Kagome. He had pent up emotions for the girl that he had to let out like a dam. He was afraid that he was starting to come off as a bumbling whimpy idiot. Then again, he is one of the most respected/feared youkai in existence. It happens when you live for a couple centuries. Yeah, he was way up there in the ranking with Seshoumaru, Kouga, Myouga (probably just by his age), Kirara (she won her fair share of battles), Shippou (by age, and surprisingly his knowledge of martial arts), and the different leaders that scattered the world of the Underground. Hanyou Inuyasha, respected youkai. Who saw that one coming? While his mind wandered on that topic he realized the dreaded time of the month was coming up. The new moon.

"Shit. I really don't need this, I have enough to deal with." He rolled over on to his stomach. His face planted down on the comforter he growled. A hanyou could only take so much stress.

Now, now. Your life isn't so bad is it?

Inuyasha growled even louder in anger. 'You again?! Leave me the fuck alone.'

Why Inuyasha, thought you would be happier to hear from me.

'I have no idea who the hell you are, and get out of my head.'

Believe me when I say I'm not here having a picnic. I would much rather be else where, such as in the passionate embrace of a certain miko who is right downstairs.

'I told you to stay away from her!'

How can I? Just thinking about her withering below me calling my name-

"SHUT UP!!!!" This time Inuyasha sat up and said it aloud and the voice was gone, ripped out of his thoughts. The hanyou's eyes were beginning to bleed in red around the edges, but he did not notice this change and didn't try to calm down. He was on the edge. That voice in his head irritated him like none other. The reason why he didn't tell Kagome was because he wasn't sure if the voice was an outside voice. What happens if it was all in his head and he slowly going insane? Wouldn't really surprise him with all the crap that had been occurring recently.

There was a knock at the door. Inuyasha immediately snapped at it, "WHAT?!"

The door opened and a head popped into the room. "Bite my head off why don't you."

The sight of her mellowed him down slightly, "Kagome. . ."

"I heard you yelling." Noticing the red in his eyes she walked over to him and placed a hand on his cheek and gazed into his eyes. "What happened?"

He gave her a questioning look, "What do you mean?"

"Your eyes are red. Your demon side is at the surface." He reached up to his face, as if expecting to feel his eyes turned red and tattoos appeared on his face. She shook her head, "No your facial markings aren't there. But your eyes are red around the edges. What provoked your demon?"

Her reaction was different. It wasn't like the other times his youkai blood completely took over his body. She wasn't trying to sit him to bring him back to normal or running after his Tetsusaiga. She just stroked his cheek, worried what had upset him. Not a trace of fear on her. "Aren't you afraid I'm going to rip your throat out?"

"Not really."

He raised an eyebrow, as his eyes slowly became the warm gold she was used to seeing, "Not really?"

"I'm assuming that after a couple of centuries you can control your demon."

Inuyasha covered the hand that was stroking his cheek, "What happens if I didn't?"

She smiled, "Your demon never hurt me."

He turned his head to avert her gaze, he didn't want to see what she would think of him. "How can you be so sure he won't hurt you? He kills without remorse, he'd kill you."

She turned his face to look at him, "'He' like you say isn't some different entity. You are your youkai, and I see absolutely nothing wrong with that. You don't kill without remorse, you lost control when in fury. They are two different things. I never saw you kill a single innocent person. You've slain other youkai, but you should feel guilty about killing humans? That's ridiculous. Some humans are far worse than any youkai." She learned forward and pulled him into an embrace that would have broken bones if he had been human, "And you would never hurt me. I know it. And deep down, you know it."

How could someone be so understanding? Wasn't this bordering on after school special? A girl so understanding that she could be friends with a demon?

Inuyasha hugged her back. Hey, any excuse to hug the girl he loves. "As great as that is to hear Kagome, if he. . . or I ever go into my full youkai mode I want you out of there. I'm not risking you."

She pulled away from the hug shrugging.

"Promise me Kagome." He said with an unwavering look.

She let out a sigh, "Fine. But don't expect me to be peachy afterwards."

He smiled, "But you'll be alive."

"You really worry about that don't you?" She sat down on the bed next to him.

"You being alive? Did you expect me not to?"

"You sometimes got distracted in battle because someone was trying to kill me. You almost got killed a couple of those times too. I was hoping you would have grown out of the habit of worrying so much."

"Are you serious?"

"Of course I am." She stabbed an accusing finger into his chest, "I will not have your death upon my conscience if you die protecting me."

"What about my conscience if you die?!"

"It's bound to happen one day."

He glared at her, "You're talking about your death like it means nothing to you."

Letting out an exasperated sigh she leaned back on her hands, "I'm not saying I'm going to run into battle wishing for my death, and trust me, I don't want to die. But could I stand it if someone else died because of me? No."

He huffed and turned his head like a small child, "I don't care what you say, I'm protecting you anyways."

Suddenly he felt a small hand cover his. Inuyasha looked down toward it then up toward Kagome's face. She was smiling. "Thank you."

He blushed and turned away slightly, "Keh." 'I don't understand women.'

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"So how did Inunii-chan take it?"

Seshoumaru sat on the sofa strumming his right hand fingers on the armrest and looked over at his mate that had just come into the living room. "Like usual, he's in complete denial."

Rin smiled and took the place next to Seshoumaru and snuggled into his side. The arm that had been resting on the back of the couch now pulled her in by the shoulder. He couldn't deny it, he was in love with this woman. They had their fair share of fights, after she got over the Seshoumaru-sama thing, and good share of happy moments. He continued to be the ice king of emotions and Rin was the epitome of bubbly cheer.

"I don't blame him."

"You don't?"

He could feel her shaking her head, "No. I mean, how would you feel if you suddenly found out you couldn't be with me?"

He didn't respond.

She shot up and looked him in the eye, "What?! You would go find some cheap floozy to replace me?!"

His raised an fine shaped eyebrow, "I didn't say anything."

"But your silence implies that you would just find a substitute!"

"It does?"

"Yes! It does!"

He didn't really know how to answer her without it being twisted around in Rin's complicated mind so he pulled her into a deep kiss. Seshoumaru was never one for words anyways. Pulling away from her he gave a rare smile, rarer than those of his half brother. Her face was flushed as she gazed up at him. The haze of the fiery kiss still engraved on her lips.

"So. . . you wouldn't just find a replacement?"

"No."

Giving a bright smile she cuddled into him again. "I'm glad."

He looked down at the small woman in his arms and shook his head slightly. 'I don't get women.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"And this is the kitchen."

Kagome walked past Inuyasha into the aforementioned kitchen, "Thank you captain obvious."

"What? You're the one that wanted a tour of the house."

"I wasn't expecting you to point to the stairs and say 'These are the stairs.'"

"Well, I didn't want you to ask any stupid questions like 'What's this?'" He said indignantly, "I saved you a heap of embarrassment."

She stared at him flatly as she looked up from rummaging the fridge, "My hero."

"Don't patronize me."

"So what do you want for lunch?" She kept going through the contents of the fridge.

"And don't change the subject!"

"Ramen?" She continued ignoring him.

"I told you to not-. . . Wait, ramen?"

"That's the only thing I can think of to make with the very little food you have in the humongous house."

"Oh. . . we have to go to the supermarket again?"

She went over to the pantry to see that they were bare, "Looks that way."

He went over to her and took her hand to tug her toward the front door. Kagome blushed, she still wasn't used to holding hands with Inuyasha as if it was perfectly normal to do so. "Come on wench. We're going on our second date."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Is Kag coming around tomorrow?"

Grandpa Higurashi nodded to the tall man, "I would think so Guy. Never failed me once in helping out, don't expect her to start now."

Guy Donohue smiled and started to turn, "Okay then. Tell her I'll be coming by sometime during the day."

The old man nodded once again and waved to the boy, "Sure thing."

Going down the long steep stone steps of the shrine Guy crossed paths with Kagome's mom. "Hey Mrs. H."

The middle-aged woman smiled in response, "Oh hello Guy. Did you come here with Kagome?"

The tiger youkai in disguised shook his head, "No, but gave the message to Gramps to tell her that I'd be swinging by."

"Kagome will be so happy to see you! She's been a bit distant lately, you know with the whole HitoGin job she quit. That Matsuhito is a horrible man! Treating my dear Kagome that way is unacceptable."

Guy also seemed angry at the mentioned man, "I tried to get Kagome to testify but she won't do it! Says that she doesn't make a mess of a situation! Can you believe her?"

Satsuki, Kagome's mom, sighed, "That's just how she is sometimes. Out to be the super-hero for everyone else but herself. She was more worried about supporting Souta's tuition. I told her she didn't have to pay for Souta to go to private school but she insisted." She shook her head in exasperation, "Compassion: her tragic flaw."

He smiled, "But isn't that what everyone loves about her?"

She looked up to the man, "I suppose so."

"Well I'm off Mrs. H. I'll see you tomorrow."

Satsuki waved good-naturedly then climbed up the stairs. Seeing Grandpa she greeted him, "Sweeping the grounds again father?"

"Oh Satsuki, back from the errands already?"

"Yes. I just ran into Guy, isn't he such a nice boy?"

Grandpa stopped sweeping and nodded his head while looking pensive, "Yes good boy that one is. Would be good for our Kagome."

Her eyes became glossy with hope, "After finding out that Hojo's ulterior preferences, Kagome hasn't been the same. I've been hoping Guy and Kagome would get together."

"Who could be a better match?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Achou!"

Kagome stared wide-eyed at Inuyasha after the huge sneeze. "Bless you."

"Thanks."

She reached over to his forehead, "Did you catch a cold?"

"Nah, demons don't get sick."

She sighed at the usually response he gave when she worried. "Then someone is saying something about you."

He smirked, "That's only a superstition."

"With all the supernatural stuff that goes on in my life, I'm willing to believe in superstitions too."

"Keh."

Kagome shrugged and continued to eat her Wacdonald's burger as Inuyasha scarfed down his second one. Then she suddenly remembered something, "Oh! I have to go to the shrine tomorrow. Can you drop me off?"

Looking up from his burger he scrunched his eyebrows, "Why are you going to the shrine?"

"I always go on Sundays. With Gramps getting old. . .er. . . older, he needs all the help he can get. Souta helps too, comes all the way from the college campus and everything."

"I'll take you."

She smiled, "Thanks."

"On one condition."

She slumped, "What?"

"I can stay and help out too."

Staring at him in wonder, "Are you serious? You want to help Gramps at the shrine? You do remember Gramps right? He's the one that attacked you with ofudas and annoyed you like no other?"

"Come on, he wasn't so bad."

She stared at him, "Okay. . ."

After finishing up their burgers they left Wacdonald's and headed back to the mansion. Upon arrival they decided that they would unpack Kagome's things together, being that she had left with only her clothes put away after hearing Inuyasha yelling. Each taking a box they began to unpack.

As Inuyasha was pulling stuff out of a box he came across a stuffed animal. It was a pink pig made out of soft plush material with tiny angel wings sprouting from its back. He suppressed laughing out loud, "Kagome?"

"Hmm?" She continued to rummage through her box, not turning around.

"What's this?" Finally turning around her eyes widened. She lunged and tried to reach for it but Inuayasha mockingly dangled it just out of reach above her head. "Come on Kag-chan, what's this? Still playing with stuffed animals?"

She huffed as she continued leaping for the pink piglet, "Give him to me!"

"So it's a him?"

"Yes! Now give him!"

He smirked and swung the pig right above her reaching fingers, "Does he have a name?"

She blushed, "N-no! Who names a stuffed animal?"

"Obviously you. You were never good at lying. So what's the name?"

"What does it matter?! Just give him to me."

"What's the big deal? If you didn't name it something like Naraku there's nothing to hide."

"I'm not telling you his name."

"Why not?"

"It doesn't matter!" She still jumped for it.

"What is his name Mr. Pinky?"

She was getting tired from reaching and jumping, "Touken."

He raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"I named it Touken." She looked away in embarrassment.

There was a silence until Inuyasha yelled. "You named a pig after me?!"

"It seemed appropriate."

"A pig?!"

She sheepishly pointed to the pig, "It has wings."

She glared at her, "And that's supposed make me feel better?"

"You should be proud. . . kind of."

"I'm a pig!"

"It's my favorite stuffed animal though, I used to sleep with it by my side for years."

He was about yell about it being a pig when he stopped himself and conceited smirk adorned his face. "You slept with me for years."

A horrified look came over her face, "You just defiled my childhood toy with that one phrase."

He dropped the pig and it plopped on her head to bounce off into her arms. "Keh." But he continued smirking.

Blushing she turned around to continue unpacking.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Inuyasha was in his room pacing and growling. On occasion he would glance out the window and the setting sun's rays would taunt him as they got lower and lower. He was not in the mood for this. Actually he was never in the mood for this. The night of the new moon. He would become human. Looking human was no big deal. It was something he had done when being Touken, but even then he had his youkai strength. He slumped down on the bed. Why did he have to be part human?

A knock came at the door.

After finishing up with packing the two of them decided that dinner was needed to be started. It seemed like the only thing they did was eat. But when Inuyasha was rolling up his sleeves to start making ramen he was shoved out of the kitchen by the miko and told to stay out until called.

She was probably done with making dinner. He went over to the door the sun slowly setting behind him. As he opened the door to find Kagome about to say something her eyes widened. His hair silver hair was getting a grayish tone to it until turning into the truest black. Warm amber eyes blended to violet and his dog-ears slid to human ears. After the transformation was over she pouted. "I just got to see your dog-ears back this morning and now they're already gone."

"It's only for the night."

She sighed, "I was hoping to be able to pet them later on."

"What the hell gave you the idea I would let you?"

She shrugged and headed down stairs, "Was planning to bribe you with food."

He drooled at the prospect of Kagome's food, which within the past few days and the two years in the feudal era, proved to be mouth-watering. He trailed after her to the kitchen, "You can still pet my human ears."

She pulled a bottle of tea out of the fridge and went to the cupboard for two glass cups. "Because that sounds all so exciting."

He smirked, she was full of easy jabs today. "So you find petting my dog-ears exciting?"

She blushed as she went over to the island where she had set dinner. "You know that's not what I mean."

He smirked, "I don't know that."

She glared at him, "Shut up Onii-chan." She slapped a hand over her mouth as he eyes widened.

He raised an eyebrow. "Confused are we?"

"It's the hair and the eyes. . ."

"I've turned human in front of you almost every time since I had met you when we were in the sengaku jidai."

"But you look older, and you look like Onii-chan. . . I mean you are Onii-chan. . . but. . . you know." Flashbacks for their birthday traditions flashed back to her she suddenly blushed profusely. "Oh. My. God."

"What?" He turned around, maybe there was something behind him that caught her attention. Nope, just the stove, and not a particularly interesting stove. "What?"

"I can't believe I asked that of you! Why didn't I realize it before?!" She hid her face in her hands, "This is so embarrassing."

"What in the seven hells are you talking about wench?"

"My first kiss! Oh my God. I can't believe I asked you for that. How bold was I?! I should have just let Hojo take my kiss than suffering this blackmailing embarrassment." She heard him growling at the comment about Hojo. Then she responded flatly, "Don't tell me you're jealous of my recently mutilated ex."

He gritted through his teeth, "No, not at all. Me? Jealous? That's a laugh."

She smiled, "You're a worse liar than I am."

He huffed and started scarfed down food. Kagome smiled at his antics. It was nice. She knew he cared, or else he wouldn't get jealous. Oh, the declaration of love really helped. Her eyes dimmed at that thought. It was still muddled to her. Love. Did she love him? She wasn't sure. Sure she cared for him deeply, but love? She didn't know what love was, it bothered her that Inuyasha seemed to know exactly and dead set on that he loved her. But what about her? She's gotten the definitions of love that people have thrown around but she didn't know if she could believe them. It's impossible to describe an emotion.

Was love the need to be with someone? That if you weren't with them the world seemed suffocating and air sucked out of your lungs? When a feeling of sadness comes over the heart when the person leaves the room? Was it seeing everything wrong about the person but still seeing them as perfect? Was it the tugging feeling in the heart that always lead back to the person? Was it staying by the person even when they chose someone else? Did you just know?

And Kagome knew. At that moment she knew. It hit her like a kick in the gut and she still doubled over from the emotion. The revelation wasn't ceremonious. He wasn't saving her life or declaring his love again. She gazed at the man that she now knew she loved, and had loved for sometime now. In hindsight, what did she have to think about? It was so obvious. Love had been staring at her, and slapping her around to wake up but she didn't understand it. Now she did, and couldn't help but think how comical the situation was. Her revelation was when Inuyasha was scarfing down food with the manners of hyena.

But she had to tell him. "Inuyasha."

He looked up at her, mouth still full of food. "Yeah?" He spoke with his mouth full, he was rude, he said the wrong things at the wrong time, and caused so much pain. But she loved him.

She smiled and reached over for his hand and began to speak, "I lo-"

Her words were suddenly cut off with crash coming from the side of the kitchen. The French doors that led outside had been crashed in by a hideous moth-winged youkai. Without missing a beat the moth youkai grabbed the wide-eyed Kagome and raced out to the yard. Inuyasha soon collected himself to run out. They were nowhere to be seen on the ground, he looked and he was hovering over him a good fifty feet. Taunting him with the now unconscious miko gripped in his six arms. "You have been warned half-breed. My master desires her soul."

Inuyasha growled, the best he could being in his human form. The sun had just set and it would be hours until he was in his true form again. At the moment there was no way he could leap high enough, because of his martial arts training his jump was greater than the average Joe's but fifty feet? That was asking too much of him. The moth began to fly away. Inuyasha panicked. He wouldn't be able to trace her without his nose, and by the time he was back to normal the wind would have kicked away her scent anyways. So he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number he reserved for emergencies.

The other line picked up. "Hello?"

"Sesshoumaru. Don't ask questions. Just get over to my house now. Be ready to fight."

The phone clicked off without allowing the older dog demon to respond. But Sesshoumaru did not hesitate. With a quick nod to Rin and a knowing smile returned Sesshoumaru raced out the front doors. To soon arrive at his brother's house by flying at tremendous speeds in the air. It was only ten minutes later that he saw a human Inuyasha waiting anxiously for his arrival. "What happened?" His half-brother would never contact him if it wasn't for a dire situation, Inuyasha was too proud. But Sesshoumaru could see that the hanyou set pride aside as a trivial factor.

"A fucking moth youkai crashed into my kitchen and flew away with my Kagome." He stepped toward his brother, "I'm not asking you to fight my battles. It's my responsibility to protect Kagome. I need you to take me there. I can't follow her sent without my nose."

Sesshoumaru nodded. He was here to be a tracker, but he knew the desperation that comes over a youkai when a mate is in danger. He took the younger dog demon by the wrist and leaped through the trees the surrounded the house, closely following the sent of his potential sister-in-law.

A/N: Does anyone know Kagome's mom's name? If anyone does please tell me. . . at the moment I just made one up.

Also, here is something new that came up. A reviewer (which shall remain anonymous) asked if a lemon would be coming up. With the last chapter they said they were disappointed that it crushed the opportunity but would keep reading anyways (thank you!). I brushed the thought aside but then I go to thinking, a lemon? Could I do it? God no. If people read 'Time Changes All' they know I had trouble writing the first kiss in. I'm more comfortable with it now, being that I'm older. But a full blow out lemon? Could I write one? No. But if someone was willing to write like a one-shot side story feeding off of this fic that would be fine. I wouldn't mind that it was getting the baseline from this fic, but can I choose when it would happen? I mean, it won't be for a WHILE. But if anyone has any suggestions I'm open to them. But I won't write one. It would come out cheesy, corny, and ridiculous. I'm assuming I'm not talented in the department, so let's just shove that in a lil' dark corner.


	12. Unveiling

1Author Notes: How long has it been since I updated? A month? A month and a half? I have no idea. But you all know that I am not a dependable person when it comes to deadlines. Too much work with school and on top of it all my computer had this thing where whenever I went on the internet to go to a website it would take me to this thing called incredifind... until I reset my PC to factory conditions I wasn't able to use internet. And I had realized I hadn't saved the edited version of this chapter, so I had to do that over. I seem to be always full of excuses. But here it is, the long awaited chapter of 'Remembering You' (I think I may change the title...) Enjoy the chappie!

Disclaimer: Inu & Co. Does not belong to me... yet another harsh truth I face every day.

". . ." dialogue

'. . .' thoughts

**Unveiling**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

#warning: curse words come up here and there b/c that's Inuyasha's character and I tend to swear in real life. . . sorry#

The pregnant moon that usually hung ominously in the sky as missing. The air was filled with a foreboding darkness, the only light was the dull glow of the stars. It is said that people could go insane if they slept under it, but what about just being under it? The world was insane enough. Everyone sleeps under the moon, the reasoning behind the crazy world. And for some people their lives just never felt sane. One of these people is Inuyasha.

His brother still had his wrist sternly held as he leapt and flew, following the miko's scent. The two brothers had a called a truce years ago, and now it was coming into play. Even after burying their hatred toward each other, it did not mean they were ever going to be going out on companionable Sunday baseball outings. Instead, the two inu youkai brothers would go on occasional demon excursions. Each family had their own way of functioning. This was theirs.

"How much farther?!" Inuyasha yelled, for the wind was whipping through his ears and drowned all the sound, just by the sheer speed Seshoumaru was going at.

"We're close." Was the older demons stern reply.

The anticipation made the hanyou's blood pump faster. Adrenaline would be the driving force in this fight. He was not going to let his brother step a single foot into the fight. This was about youkai dignity and pride. You protect what's yours. Even if it may cost you your life.

The night mocked him. The new moon. His human blood was dominant that night. His demon blood went god knows where and left him feeling weak and uncomfortable with his surroundings. And now, he was about to rush into battle in his human form. Inuyasha wasn't sure if he would make it. But he was damned well sure that Kagome would.

Suddenly Seshoumaru came to a stop in a clearing that opened up in the woods they had been chasing the moth demon in. Standing next to his brother, Inuyasha growled the best as he could in his present form. "Why did you stop?!"

"She's here. Somewhere."

Inuyasha's eyes widened and whipped his head around every which way, but he saw nothing. Then, remembering how a similar situation was met when the moth youkai had crashed into the house he looked up. And sure enough there was the youkai flapping his wings a hundred feet in the air with the still unconscious Kagome limp in his arms.

"Would you like some help? Maybe cut off a wing to give you a fairer chance in fighting that thing?" Seshoumaru offered, but that was as much as he was willing to offer. He knew Inuyasha wouldn't let him fight. The inu youkai were stubborn and too proud for that.

"Nah." The hanyou menacingly cracked his knuckles, still able to look intimidating even in his present lack of demon blood state. "This is personal. I want to have the pleasure of ripping that thing limb by limb, then tear those fucking wings off."

"How do you plan to get him down? I doubt he'll come down so you can attack him."

"Just watch." Picking up a rock that lay near by he pulled his arm back ready to throw.

Seshoumaru stared at him flatly, "You plan to hit him down. With a rock." Without giving his brother's comment a thought Inuyasha lunged the rock. . . and hit Kagome directly between the eyes. "You missed. You hit your mate. The one you were trying to save."

Inuyasha smirked, "I was aiming at her."

Raising a fine sculpted eyebrow Seshoumaru looked toward the moth demon, and saw the miko stirring. She scrunched her eyes a bit, then slowly opened them. Taking a few seconds to take in her surrounding, her eyes suddenly went wide. She was precariously held by a moth demon a hundred feet in the air. The only thing keeping her from her untimely death was the demon, and he didn't look all that friendly either. She panicked and her miko aura kicked in. It was like a gut reaction and so, appropriately, she let out a gut-wrenching scream. That was when a burst of pure pinkish light glowed from her and burned the moth demon. Startled by the scream, and the skin burning sensation of the purifying powers the demon let go. And Kagome went plummeting to the ground.

Although completely disoriented one thing registered in her head. She was falling, and very quickly to the hard ground. Looking down with only thirty feet left she saw Inuyasha with his arms out ready to catch her. Spreading her arms apart to fall into his embrace. When she finally reached him her arms clasped around his neck and his around her waist. The light that had surrounded her, now was protectively around the both of them. From the sheer momentum Inuyasha fell onto his back with the girl of his dreams in his arms. Hey, a guy could do worse.

Laying on top of him and safe in his arms she let out breath. "Inuyasha."

He smiled down at her, "Miss me?"

She sighed, "You're so arrogant."

"Only adding to my charm."

Shaking her head she looked up at the moth demon that now had charred arms. It looked livid. It swooped down slightly to be a bit closer, hissing menacingly at the two on the ground and Seshoumaru. "Her soul. Give it to me."

Pulling them both up to stand, Inuyasha pushed Kagome to stand behind him. "You're not going anywhere near her."

"The master desire's her soul!"

"Why?!"

"Just give her to me!"

"Like hell I will." Inuyasha lunged at the demon that was now barely in his jumping range. Grabbing onto the demons lower legs he tugged down. Then Inuyasha felt flesh flaming below his palms, but it wasn't his skin. The glow from Kagome still left traces upon his hands and it was purifying the demon. The thing shrieked and struggled but Inuyasha, completely determined and stubborn, held on fast.

"Let go of me you half breed!"

"Not in your lifetime!"

That's when the lifetime ended. Kagome grabbed Inuyasha around the waist and allowed her miko energy to flow through him like an electrical conductor and it went straight to the demon. An anguishing cry bellowed into the night as the moth demon burst into flames, his wings first, then the rest of him. Inuyasha let go and fell backwards on top of Kagome as the demon burned to ashes before their eyes.

". . . That was interesting." Inuyasha scratched his head. The fight was over. All in all, it was pretty uneventful compared to the other ones he had been in. But the recent display of power from Kagome was something he didn't expect. Then he realized he still had the girl squashed under him. He quickly shot up and gave a sheepish grin. "Sorry, forgot you were down there."

"Don't I just feel loved."

"Come Inuyasha. I'll take the two of you home." It seemed as if this was the first moment Kagome noticed that Seshoumaru was there and she ran behind Inuyasha in instinct. The older one looked amused, "What is wrong with your woman brother?"

"Y-you!" Kagome pointed an accusing frightened finger at Seshoumaru.

"Me?"

"Do something Inuyasha! It's your brother!"

Seshoumaru looked toward his younger brother. "I don't remember her being this hysterical."

"Me neither."

Kagome froze, "Is this an amiable conversation?"

"As friendly as it's going to get between me and Fluffy."

"That's 'Fluffy and I.' And don't call me Fluffy."

Kagome stared at them. "You two get along?"

Inuyasha unconscious leaned his weight on Kagome as she stood next to him. "We're not calling each other up to go fishing but we have a reasonable truce."

Feeling his weight on her and the tired look in his eyes, she looked at him critically. "Are you okay?"

He held fast on her wrist to hold his balance as a nauseous dizzy spell came over him. "Never bet-" Then he blacked out and fell to the ground.

Her eyes widened. "Inuyasha!" And she panicked.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Seshoumaru stared at the worried miko as she fidgeted around the house looking for medicine. "Calm down. My brother is a hanyou. There is no need for medicine."

Her nervous hands made busy with drawers that had already been check twice in her search. "But he's human right now. . . and I think I hurt him. . . oh God! What if he dies?!"

"He is not going to die."

"How can you be so sure? He might just keel over any second now."

He looked slightly amused at her distress. "I'll be the last to admit it but Inuyasha is not weak."

"I practically purified him to death! My God. . . the guy saves me and I try to vaporize him!"

"Since he was human when he was in contact with your purifying miko energy, I am sure he will be fine. Only the waning demon blood in his system on this night was hurt. It retaliated and his human body could not take it. It was not your fault."

"But I used him like a lightening rod! How horrible am I?!"

He looked bored, "I am not going to sit here all night to comfort you and tell you the same thing over and over. But I would like to speak to you about something."

Kagome quickly nodded, she was willing to talk about celery if it meant to calm her rattled nerves about Inuyasha. Because in reality, he would probably back to normal and kicking by the rising of the sun.

"Has Inuyasha spoken to you about the Wakahirume prophesy?"

"No. . ."

"I had thought so. He was determined not to believe it yesterday. Although it goes against inu youkai tradition for me to tell you something when Inuyasha does not want you to know, I think this calls for different circumstances."

"What are you talking about?"

So, Seshoumaru went into a detailed telling of everything he had told Inuyasha. About the hamaya, Amaterasu, Wakahirume, the prophecies, the possibility that she may be a goddess, and the consequences of that.

"You're kidding right? I mean there were enough things that were trying to tear us apart and now this?! How is it even possible that I'm a goddess?! I'm just a normal girl!"

"With amazing amounts of miko power without training."

"That's because Kikyou-"

"But you now know you are not Kikyou's reincarnation. Your power comes from elsewhere. It is the most logical explanation. There is a chance that you could be Wakahirume."

"Stop saying that!"

"I am not saying this to upset you. But I would like for you to consider the possibility. If you prove me wrong it will be all the better for Inuyasha. However, do not be stubborn like he is and out rule it because you are not pleased with it."

She took in an erratic breath trying to calm herself. "Fine. Then, how do I know the truth?"

He closed his eyes, "I am not sure, but I am sure it will be revealed within your next calling."

"When is my second calling?"

"Tomorrow? Next month? In a decade? We are unsure. Midoriko did not give an exact place, date, and time."

She raked a tired hand through her hair. "This is ridiculous." Looking over at the clock she noticed that she had left Inuyasha alone for nearly an hour now. "I'm going to go check on him."

"Dawn is in a few hours. I would not worry about him. His youkai blood will repair any damage done."

She silently nodded as she slowly climbed up the stairs. Seshoumaru watched the girl leave the living area and got up as she disappeared up the stairs. He set down the hamaya that had not left his side since he had attained it from the dragon clan. He was to part with it now, and Inuyasha and Kagome would have to figure this one out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She opened the door and saw that Inuyasha was still lying in bed. If she hadn't witnessed everything that happened that night, she would have said that he was peacefully sleeping. She walked over to his side and sat on the floor with her head laying on the bed and held his human hands in hers. She knew there really was nothing to worry about. The sun would come up and his demon blood would kick in and he would be fine. But what bothered her was that she did this to him. She was afraid that one day she would loose control of her power and kill him.

And she could be a goddess.

That was one pill that was hard to swallow. It would need to be mashed up and slipped into her soup bowl without knowing. But Seshoumaru went for the unorthodox method of shoving it down her throat.

Why hadn't Inuyasha told her? She looked over to the hanyou turned human and sighed. He probably had a pretty good reason right? Sleep was taking over her body and she yawned. Still on the floor, with her head resting on his bed she fell asleep to the sound of his steady breathing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ow. That's the word that came to mind. Then again was 'ow' a word? Inuyasha groaned as he laid in his sheets not really remembering when he had made his way to bed. He didn't really recall the night before either. . . it was kind of fuzzy. . . had he been drinking?

Sniffing the air around him he soon knew there was no traces of alcohol nearby, but Kagome was in proximity. Turning his head to the direction of her calming smell his body screamed. Ow.

Whatever happened last night had caused his body to hate him. Then the memories came slowly slipping back into place. The moth youkai, calling Seshoumaru, and throwing a rock at Kagome. Wonder if she was mad about that.

He felt the girl in question stirring next to him and a deep yawn emitted from her. She stood and leaned over him. Her face directly above his as she smiled down at him, her hair falling around them like a curtain from the world. "How are you feeling?"

He smirked, "Like you used the rosary a hundred times over to pummel me to the ground. But besides that, I'm peachy."

"This is all my fault. I almost purified you to death."

Sighing, his eyes drifted shut. "Oh is that all that happened? No big deal. Give me half an hour and I'll be better than ever."

"What do you mean 'is that all'? I nearly killed you!"

He lightly shrugged, an action that caused a searing pain to go through his shoulder blades. "I've almost gotten you killed a couple times, we're even now."

"Inuyasha, this isn't something like owing someone money. You could have seriously been killed if not for your human form. . . God, I don't want to imagine what would have happened if you had been hanyou last night. You should be running for the hills, screaming to the villagers that a homicidal miko is in town."

Opening his eyes he scowled, "God Kagome, it's not like you did it on purpose. And I won't ever run for the hills. You never did." He averted his gaze from her, "Do you honestly think I'm that shallow to run off on you?"

She sighed and laid her head lightly on his chest, "No. I'm just panicking. Give me a half an hour and I'll be better than ever." She turned her head so she was looking up an him and smirked, "Right?"

Returning the smirk he closed his eyes so that he could recover from the events of the night before. It had only been two hours since sun rise, he really only needed half an hour. "Right."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Gramps, Mom, Souta! I'm home!" Kagome pleasantly exclaimed as she was bent over taking off her shoes at the entrance of her childhood home. Inuyasha was a dependably next to her toeing off his shoes as well.

"Kagome! Welcome home! Did you have breakfast yet?" The disembodied voice of her mother came floating out of kitchen.

"Yeah, we already ate."

"We?" Satsuki turned around form the stove as her daughter came into the kitchen. She softly gazed at the man next to Kagome. Although with some strange features such as long silver-white hair, amber eyes, long fang-like canines, and claw-like fingers; she couldn't deny that the man was attractive. A definite catch worthy of her daughter. "Oh! Who's your friend?"

Getting a knowing smile from her mother Kagome blushed a bit, "Mom, this is Inuyasha Touken. Inuyasha, this is my mom Satsuki Higurashi."

Satsuki blinked, the familiar name registering in her mind. "Touken? Oh it's lovely to see you again! Kagome told me you moved away to America. It's nice to finally see you home."

"Thanks Satsuki-san." He grinned. Although she did not remember him as Inuyasha it was nice that she remembered him as a different entity.

"Although your hair and eye color does throw me off a bit. And I didn't realize your first name was Inuyasha. Imagine, all those years just calling you Touken."

Scratching his head sheepishly in answered, "This is my natural hair and eye color. I used to dye it and wear contacts so I wouldn't stand out, but I'm too lazy to do that now."

Kagome raised an amused eyebrow. Dye and color contacts? He couldn't very well tell her mother that it was a concealing spell.

"You should have never hid your unique features, makes you one in a million. Perfect for my daughter!" This comment caused the girl to blush and the guy to grin. "So how did you end up running into my Kagome to end up on the shrine grounds again?"

"He's my boss."

"From your new job? How wonderful! He is much better than that Matsuhito." With the mention of the name she earned a glare from Kagome, a subtle warning for her not to elaborate any farther on the topic. Sighing, Satsuki switched gears, "That reminds me, Guy is coming over today."

Kagome groaned, "He's going to be smothering me with his big brother ego again isn't he?"

"He just worries about you."

"I know."

Wiping her hands on her apron Kagome's mother smiled, "So did you two eat breakfast?"

"Yeah. I'll just go get changed while Gramps and Souta eats."

Inuyasha grinned, "I could go another round in breakfast."

Shaking her head Kagome climbed the stairs, "With your bottomless stomach I'm not surprised."

One her way up she passed by Gramps and gave him a word of greeting and shuffled to her room to change into what she called her 'Sunday Outfit.' Donning the clothing she made her way downstairs where Satsuki, Gramps, and Inuyasha were eating. Inuyasha, surprisingly was not wolfing down his food, but showing signs of restraint usually exhibited in the normal. She sat down in the empty chair next to him waiting for him and Gramps to finish breakfast.

Taking a break from his food he glanced at Kagome and his eyes bugged out at what she was wearing. "Are you seriously going to wear _that_ for the entire day?"

"It's not that strange Touken-kun. Well, it might be strange seeing her in traditional dress being that you left before she started her miko training. . . But Souta dresses in the priest clothes as well. That's what the shrine visitors expect." Satsuki answered brightly as she finished off her breakfast.

Inuyasha nodded but eyed the white gi and red hakama that went along with the traditional Shinto priestess clothing that Kagome now had on. Even after all the years it still irked him in seeing Kagome in those clothes. He was aware of the differences between Kagome and Kikyou now, and the vast differences in their faces. But it still irked him seeing Kagome in those clothes. During his five century wait he had a couple reoccurring dreams, one of them was where Kagome would be dressed like Kikyou and would be the one to shoot him onto the Goshinboku tree instead of Kikyou doing it. He hoped to God it wasn't prophetic.

Finishing breakfast everyone but Satsuki headed outside to start the chores. Kagome went on her way to do her weekly routine as Gramps abused Inuyasha by telling him to fix every little thing that was broken in the shrine. And it had been years since anyone had actually went about to fix anything. About a half hour later Souta came rushing up the stone steps, into the house, then out again wearing his traditional clothes. He ran over to over to Gramps who was supervising as Inuyasha was on the roof of the shrine replacing broken shingles.

The boy noticed the white-haired man on the roof and leaned toward Gramps in a hiss, "You got a senior citizens to fix the roof?! What happens if she breaks a hip or something?! I know you're cheap Gramps, but this is ridiculous!"

Inuyasha leaned over the edge of the roof so that his hair dangled next to the whispering two. "I'm no old lady."

Jumping back from Inuyasha's sudden presence Souta gasped, "Don't scare me like that! God, I want to live to an old age instead of having someone scaring me to death!" Shaking his head the hanyou flipped back up to continue on with his shingle replacing job. Souta raised an eyebrow, "And who are you supposed to be?"

"Oh, that's Kagome's friend Touken. You remember Touken, don't you?"

"Not really. . . he moved when I was eight. He was more Kagome's special visitor than mine. My question now is: why the heck is he here?" He raised his voice so as to direct it at Inuyasha, "Aren't you supposed to be in America or something?"

"I came back. I'm your sister's boss now." The hanyou continued to do the replacements, unbeknownst of from the glance that Souta gave his grandfather. Gramps nodded to the boy, his suspicions were true.

Keeping his voice at a bare minimum Souta whispered to Gramps, and Inuyasha would not have been able to overhear. . . if he wasn't hanyou that is.

"So she quit her job with Matsuhito?"

Gramps nodded, "That is what Guy told us. Kagome won't utter a word about it. You know how she is."

Souta let a string of curses, "She's too worried about paying for my school then herself. God, sometimes I want to get a two by four and smack her upside that head."

"It might shove some sense into the girl."

Suddenly the girl in question came around the corner of the shrine building. "Souta!"

"Hey nee-chan. How's your new job?"

Kagome smiled and looked over to Inuyasha then back at her brother, "It's great! Mr. Williams is one of the nicest people I have ever met. He's helping me out in getting settled in so I can smoothly fill is position when he retires."

"Mr. Williams? An American?"

"Yup. A sweet old man that humors me too much."

Souta smiled sadly, "You seem happy."

"Yeah, I guess I am. All things considering of course."

"What about what happened at HitoGin? Are you going to report it?" Kagome shook her head frantically and averted her eyes to Inuyasha. A clear indication from sister to brother to change subjects. Souta sighed, "So your boss is Touken huh? Wow, small world."

"Freakishly small. I never thought I'd be walking into Inuyasha's office anytime soon. . . or ever thought he had an office."

Souta scrunched his eyebrows, "Inuyasha?" His eyes suddenly widened and he whipped his head toward the mentioned man that was now about to come down from the roof being finished with the repairs. Souta returned his stare back to his sister, "As in the Inuyasha from the coma?"

Kagome eyes widened and panicked, "Oh. . . um. . . I think I might have heard his name before but had forgotten it. You know, me and my selective memory."

Souta shook his head, "No, we went through all possibilities of where the name came from. We mentioned Touken in the mix."

Raising her hands to brush the subject off she back up, "No big deal. It just slipped my mind a bit."

"You were crying hysterically for this guy!" He glared at Inuyasha who was now standing next to Kagome, "What the hell did you do to her?!"

"Nothing!"

"She wouldn't have cried over nothing."

Kagome let out an exasperated sigh, "Leave him alone Souta. My mind was jumbled back then." Then a frown set on her face, "And why are you late? You're usually here a half hour before me."

He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, "I slept in."

"Then make up for it by setting up the store before the visitors start coming."

Leading her brother around the corner again Gramps nodded then addressed Inuyasha who remained in the same spot. "Don't take offence of what Souta says. He just worries about Kagome. She has a tendency of putting other before herself, and end up silently carrying the burden later. With Kagome in the coma, he had lost his sister for two years. He kept on beating himself up when she was asleep. Says it was his fault she fell down the well, that he shouldn't have suddenly approached her when she went looking for Buyo. . . He's afraid that you might hurt her or use her."

"I'm not mad at him."

"Glad to hear that. Souta's a good boy. When my son died a few years before her coma he was completely convinced he would need to be the man of the house. Granted, he was seven at the time and I am still around but he was convinced. He didn't really take on those responsibilities until Kagome's incident. He was nine years old and being a vital support in Statsuki's life." Out of the blue Gramps pulled out a broom and thrust it at the hanyou.

Inuyasha stared down at the broom, "I'm guessing you don't want me to hop on and fly away?"

"Sweep the grounds."

"I don't know why people sweep outside, it's dirty all the time anyways."

He patted the younger(looking) man on the back with a smile, "Tradition my boy. Now hop to it."

Growling a bit Inuyasha obediently swept the shrine grounds that never seemed to be clean enough for the senile old man.

"And to my left is the Goshiboku, a sacred God tree that has looked over this shrine for centuries."

Inuyasha turned his head toward the familiar voice of Kagome as she was leading a group around the grounds, explaining its history. She caught his gaze and smiled, but continued telling the stories.

"There is a great legend of a great hanyou and miko that surrounds this tree. It is a legend filled with tragedy, death, and love."

A little girl with her front teeth missing, exclaimed as she clapped her hands as her eyes grew wide in excitement. "Tell us the story!"

She smiled down at the girl, ecstatic with all her might.

"The legend begins with a lonely inu hanyou. His youkai father killed protecting his wife and son, his mother died soon after from an illness. The hanyou was left in the wilderness to fend for himself. Then it all changed. He met a miko, a beautiful gentle miko that he found only as a barrier to ultimate power. But as much as he thought her annoying at first the feelings grew to fondness then finally to love. They planned to live a life together, but she asked him to become human. And he agreed. Before he could become human an evil demon interfered and made them betray each other. The miko was killed and the hanyou was pinned to this very tree.

"Fifty years past and the hanyou remained sleeping pinned to the tree when a girl came by him one day. He suddenly awoke and saw that she was in trouble with a demon. Telling her to free him, she did and she was saved by him. The hanyou and the girl became friends, and banned together to defeat the evil demon that deceived the hanyou decades before. During which time the hanyou's first love, the miko, was raised from the dead. But the miko came back with a heart filled with hatred and vowed to kill the hanyou as revenge. After years of fighting the hanyou, the girl, and friends they accumulated along the way defeated the evil youkai. The girl had fallen in love with the hanyou, but his heart remained with the miko. So the girl left to return to her far away home. The hanyou remained with the miko that lost her hatred after much persistence from the stubborn hanyou. They married and lived a happy life together. In the end the lonely hanyou and miko found each other, even after death."

The little girl of before scrunched up her face, "What about the girl from the far away land? Did she live happily ever after?"

Kagome smiled sadly, "I'm not sure. The legend never specifies too much on the girl." She gestured for the group to follow her as she led them toward the well house, "Come along, there is still much left to see."

Inuyasha stared blankly as she began telling the group about the well house. He had overheard the legend as Kagome had told it. According to what she said he lived a happy life with Kikyou? How does that make sense? Kikyou was sent back to the earth before Kagome returned to her time. It was too strange. It was like someone had gathered up a plethora of rumors that floated around the local villages and made a story. And who the hell wrote the legend down?!

Inuyasha grudging continued sweeping the shrine grounds. Kicking up dust, only to have it settled around him once again. He would talk to Kagome about this later. He snarled at the thought that, possibly, all insecurities of their relationship was due to the legend. He loved her and was willing to wait for her sort out her feelings, but he wasn't about let her wallow in the wrong facts. Inuyasha would set her straight.

That's when he felt it. A demon. It was coming to the shrine, and it was not happy. With the events of the night before still fresh in his mind he dropped the broom and sprinted to where Kagome was waving her farewells to the departing tour group. He skidded to a stop in front of her and blocked the supposed path of the oncoming demon toward Kagome.

"Inuyasha?" She was more than confused.

"Stay behind me, and stay out of danger." He growled menacingly at the youkai that was fast approaching. Only a few more seconds before it would be directly before them.

"What are you talking abou-" Her question was cut off when she felt the presence as well and the sudden appearance of angry tiger demon was before them. It seemed that the said youkai had no qualms of running around the city streets without his concealing spell in place. Or maybe he was too upset to realize. His ears were pointed much like Seshoumaru's. He had black stripes that adorned his tanned skin, a clear indication of his tiger heritage. His hair was black, but seemed to reflect in an orangish glare when hit by the light. His eyes were that of a feline, bright and yellow as the sun with vertical slits as pupils. All in all, taking a step back and assessing all the youkai's features, he was quite attractive.

"What the hell do you want?" Obvious, Inuyasha didn't care about the demon's looks. His growl was definite evidence of that.

"That's exactly what I want to know." It seems the tiger youkai can also growl. . . or was it a roar?

A loud sigh from Kagome made both pairs of eyes focused on the woman with priestess garb. "Do I have to be here to watch a battle of testosterone?"

Both narrowed their eyes at the female and growled at each other in unison as they directed a question at her, "Who the hell is he?!"

Another audible sigh, "Guy, this is Inuyasha Touken. Inuyasha, this is Guy Donohue. Introducing Inuyasha seems to be my activity of the day."

Inuyasha calmed down a bit, as it seemed like Kagome trusted the youkai. Also the mention of him protecting her during dinner two nights ago did it too. Anyone that helped his Kagome out was alright in his book. Note to Inuyasha: get a book.

"So you're Guy Donohue. Heard some things about you. It seems that Kagome here trusts you with her life." Okay, maybe there was a slither of jealousy seeping in.

"And I haven't heard anything from Kagome about you so I assume you're new acquaintances." With that Guy had made his way around Inuyasha and pulled Kagome into his reach and held out a arm in front of her. "So I kindly ask you step off the shrine grounds, and out of Kagome's life."

Any form of politeness that Inuyasha was willing to hold up for the sake of Kagome was doused by the tiger youkai's words. "I would appreciate it if you would get away from my Kagome."

Although Kagome was every bit the modern day independent woman, she couldn't help but smile at Inuyasha's possessive nature.

Guy growled, "Your Kagome? I've known her for five years now and I haven't heard hide nor hair of an 'Inuyasha' so I doubt you can claim anything over her."

The hanyou bristled in anger and stood up to his full height to use it as an intimidating towering method over the only slightly shorter younger youkai. "I've known her for half a millennia and for the better part of her life. If any one has say over her it would be me."

As much as Kagome loved Inuyasha's sometimes primitive and crude ways of showing her cared, even the young miko had her boundaries. She stepped out from behind Guy and stood between the two. "How about this? Neither of you have a say over me. Who died and gave either of you the right to dictate who I associate with?!"

Guy sneered a bit but dejectedly stood back. Inuyasha, however, with his elephant sized confidence stood his ground. "I have a say! After everything that you managed to get yourself into in the past, someone has to keep an eye on you!"

Kagome stared at him disbelievingly then narrowed her eyes at him, "I'm not some toddler that you have to watch over so I don't swallow lego pieces! God! You haven't changed at all!"

"Just the other night you said I changed too much!"

"Well, it seems you changed in all the wrong places!" Kagome slapped a hand to her mouth. That had come out a lot harsher that she had wanted. It was somewhat true, she held fears within her that Inuyasha had changed so much in the years apart that he would be unrecognizable to her. That after a while of being with her, he would realize that the girl he had envisioned in his mind and had been his driving force: had only been a foolish teenage thought. She hadn't meant for that fear to come out, so she had turned them into stabbing words. "Oh God. I didn't mean that Inuyasha."

Her words had hurt. Live through centuries to meet the girl of your dreams, only to have her say you weren't good enough. If that wasn't a well placed kick to the gut he didn't know what was. Inuyasha ignored her apologies, he just couldn't accept them at the moment.

Looking over at the confused feline demon Inuyasha addressed him, "Put your concealing spell on."

Guy nodded slowly and did so, not about to push the buttons further on the tension he felt that sparked the air. Right when the final strip had blended back into his skin and his ears rounded Gramps came around the corner.

"Oh Guy, it's nice to see you again. I see you found Kagome already."

"Yeah. Thanks Gramps."

"Ah, and I believe you have met Kagome's guest. He's been helping me about the shrine today. His strong back and good pair of legs have been a life saver for me. It seems that in my old age I can't hop about the shrine roof and fix the leaks."

Kagome had averted her eyes to the ground, not wanting any eye contact lest allow Gramps to see the fear within them. Inuyasha continued with his standoffish attitude, not one that was completely foreign to him. And Guy was left with the task of talking to the old man that knew nothing of what just transpired.

"I could have done that for you if you asked Gramps."

Gramps smiled, "I appreciate that, but you always seem to have places to go, people to see. Not enough time on your crime fighting hands to bother with a little old shrine."

He smiled despite the heavy air, "I'm not Batman gramps."

"Ah, yes. But a man in law enforcement's work is never done."

"I guess not."

With that Gramps nodded and headed off for his previous destination of the house, leaving the trio abandoned with the awkwardness.

It was Kagome that broke the silence, "I'm really sorry Inuyasha."

"Keh, whatever."

She sighed at the tone he used. From past experiences with the hanyou it told her that he was hurt but not all was lost between them. She felt assured that they would talk about it later. Turning toward Guy she gave a tired sad smile, "Not that I don't love seeing you Guy, but is this a social call?"

The tiger demon rubbed his neck sheepishly, "It seems it never is. Sorry Kags, this is going to be shop talk."

Inuyasha scrunched his eyebrows, "Shop talk?"

The other demon nodded, "The Underground."

"What's the dire in demon central?" Kagome tried her best to liven the slightly grim mood.

"There are rumors about a price on your head. Some demon really wants you all to himself."

The hanyou growled, "Who?"

"I don't know. I've asked around, sucked my sources dry but no one knows anything. All I know is that he's one rich bastard, and he's willing to use large sums of money to get to our Kags."

Inuyasha noticed his purposeful use of 'our' as a form of subtle compromise between the two demons.

"What does he want from me? I mean, besides being one of the few priestesses left with actual power, there isn't much to me."

Guy shook his head, "I'm not sure, but there is constant mention of your soul. He wants it."

"My soul?" Her eyes widened at his comment and she contemplated for a moment before answering. "What's so great about it? I mean, it's just my soul. Just a soul of an ordinary human girl. . ."

That's when realization hit her and Inuyasha with force. What she said wasn't true. She might not be an ordinary human girl. She could quite possibly be a goddess and this seemed to confirm it. Kagome searched for Inuyasha's eyes, and when he met her gaze Inuyasha realized that she knew. Some how she had found out about the legend and her possible holy status. Probably from Sesshoumaru. Inuyasha clenched his fists at the thought. Heads would be rolling soon, if not a certain silver haired brother's.

Guy, not knowing of the legend of Wakahirume or the past of these two people sighed. "I have no idea. There are a lot of uses for a soul, but yours in particular? No idea. Maybe it is just because you're a miko. I'm not sure."

Kagome nodded numbly and sat down on a nearby stone bench. Guy and Inuyasha silently followed her. Then Guy tried to break the tense air, "So. . . What's your deal?"

It was Inuyasha who had been addressed, "My deal?"

"Yeah. You're the Inuyasha Touken, one of the strongest, most respected youkai known in existence. You're only rivaled for your status by your brother. And only a few that can even shed a light to your power."

"Kouga, Myouga, Shippou, and Kirara?"

"Yeah."

Inuyasha nodded, "All friends of ours."

Guy jutted his head forward in surprise and whipped his head toward Kagome, "You know those people."

"Old friends of mine. I hadn't seen them in years but I recently met with all of them over a reunion dinner of sorts."

The black-haired man plopped down into the available space next to Kagome, "I can't believe this! You know the youkai's from the highest circles of not just the Underground, but of the general society and you failed to notify me?"

She gave him an apologetic look, "I'll explain everything to you at one point, but not right now. All I can explain to you right now with a short amount of time is that it has to do with my coma and something that occurred when I was supposedly asleep."

"Your coma?" With her pleading look to let the topic slide for now he sighed. "Fine. Well, back to the note of someone being after you. I don't want you out of my sight until I know that a psychotic maniac isn't after your soul."

"I'll protect her."

At the proclamation Guy seemed reluctant to accept it, "Look, I understand you and Kags go way back, but I would feel more comfortable knowing she was under my watch."

Inuyasha shook her head, "I have years of fighting experience over you and my strength is multiple times to yours because of it. I would much rather you finding this bastard and killing him before this gets any worse."

The tiger youkai objected, "But!"

Inuyasha looked on sternly toward the younger youkai, "That's an order."

Guy was taken a back by the sudden use of demon hierarchy. But it was true, being that Inuyasha was second in line to be the Lord of the Western Lands, and co-head of the inuyoukai clan along side his brother. In the demon world, Inuyasha was way up in the chain of command then Guy, even if he held the respectable position as the head of the Tokyo Police Department.

Looking toward the ground he gave in with a: "Yes Sir."

Inuyasha nodded in approval. He rarely used his ranking to have his will done, but certain times called for such measures.

Kagome, although surprised by Inuyasha's 'it's an order' and Guy's 'yes sir' she did not question it at the moment. "So is that all Guy? No other news of impending doom? No one out to get my liver or anything?"

Guy shook his head, knowing her slight use of humor was her way of coping with her sometimes overwhelming life. "Not just yet. . . but I'm still waiting for you to testify against Matsuhito."

She shook her head and waved her hands before her, anything to draw attention away from the present topic. But Inuyasha had picked up on the mention of the rival name. "Matsuhito? As in Hizuki Matsuhito? As in the CEO of Hitobito no Ginkou (translation: The People's Bank) the rival bank to my own? As in Kagome's old boss?"

"She didn't tell you about him?" Guy had completely missed Kagome's signal to change the subject.

Inuyasha glared at Kagome, forgetting that he had been ignoring her. "What didn't you tell me?"

"Nothing!" She in turn glared at Guy, "It's nothing, right?"

Guy shook his head in anger, "It's not nothing Kags. I don't care how much you write it off but you have to come forward about it. And seeing that Inuyasha here seems to care a lot about your well being I think he deserves to know."

"He doesn't need to know." She seethed through clenched teeth.

Guy turned his head away from her and stood to face Inuyasha, "Do you want to know what this idiot of a woman did?"

Kagome shot up from her seat and stepped in front of Guy, "Don't do this Guy! There are some things that doesn't need to be said! This is one of them!"

He didn't avert his eyes from the hanyou, who now wanted to seriously know what had happened with Matsuhito that Kagome didn't know him to know. Guy spoked to Inuyasha, ignoring the protests by Kagome. "I'm hoping you can shove some sense into her."

Inuyasha glanced down at Kagome that now adorned panicked eyes, then back up at Guy. "What's this about?"

Guy took in a breath, "Kagome is letting it go that Hizuki Matsuhito sexually harassed and molested her while she worked at HitoGin."

There. It was said. And Kagome was furious and frightened. She was livid toward the tiger youkai for saying things to Inuyasha she had told him in confidence. She was terrified of what Inuyasha would say to that. Although Matsuhito hadn't gone as far as to rape her, but she still felt as if his advances and unwanted touches had made her feel dirty. Like she had unknowingly sent him signals that she wanted his attention. Even after stating that she did not like how he treated her, Matsuhito continued to take advantage of his higher position. In the end, Kagome had quit that bank and never looked back. Also, to never go and testify against her former boss.

"What?" Inuyasha had a disbelieving look on his face as he stared at Guy, unable to fully take in his words. Then he turned toward Kagome their eyes met but she averted slowly to the ground, "Is that true?"

"It doesn't matter."

Fury burned within the inu youkai, "Doesn't matter?! A man touched you and you didn't want him to! Why don't you say anything?!"

"What difference would it make? He's rich, he'd just pay his way out of it. Who would believe me anyways?"

"You wouldn't make something like this up Kagome."

"The court wouldn't know that would they?"

Guy shook his head, "They would be more inclined to believe the woman. Especially if she was willing to quit her job to get away from the abuse. If he had fired you it would be a different story, but you left Kagome."

"Because I'm too much of a coward to face him head on."

He set a hand on her shoulder, "You were brave enough to leave a secure job that would have set you for life, to preserve your self dignity. You're not a coward."

"Testify Kagome." Kagome looked over to Inuyasha who had calmed down considerably.

"What if. . ."

"What if what?" Inuyasha's penetrating stare was what did her in.

"What if I had sent the wrong signals? What if I had unknowingly led him on?"

"Did you ever tell him to stop? Did you ever say no?" She nodded slowly. "Then there's nothing to discuss. You'll testify."

"But. . ."

"Not ifs, ands or buts." Inuyasha turned to Guy. "I'll take her down to the station after work tomorrow."

"So you'll swing by her apartment to pick her up?"

"My apartment? What would I be doing in my. . . oh, I didn't tell you did I?"

Guy tilted his head, "Tell me what?"

"I got a job. I work for Inuyasha at Touken Ginkou."

"That's nice of you to do her that favor." Guy nodded toward Inuyasha.

"Actually, I didn't hire her. My secretary forgot to hire someone new for a position that needed filling, my present worker is retiring. It's just a coincidence that I know Kagome. I didn't know she was hired until she walked into my office the first day of her job."

"Why didn't you just promote someone?"

Kagome jabbed an elbow in his rib, "Hey! Don't make him regret hiring me and have him come to his senses."

Inuyasha shook his head, "I needed someone knew that met the qualifications. No one else in the bank has the required degree for the job and speak English fluently."

Guy nudged Kagome playfully, "See I told you all those hours of studying English did some good."

"You have no idea how grateful I am."

"Any time." He grinned.

Inuyasha watched the exchange. He was jealous. Then again, when wasn't he? But this time it was different. He had been jealous before, Kouga was the cause of it most of the time. But one thing he prided himself from having over Kouga was that Inuyasha knew Kagome a lot better than the wolf could ever hope to. But the interaction between her and Guy was different. It was comfortable, they had been through ups and downs together. Maybe Kagome had lied. Maybe there was someone else. Maybe it was Guy. Was it possible that Guy was the man of Kagome's affections?

"Kagome!" The voice of Satsuki caught the trio's attention and turned toward her as she and Gramps was making there way out of the house. "I was wondering if you and Touken-kun could help move some boxes from the house to the store. The delivery men left it there when I wasn't home yesterday. Now we have to move it all across the grounds to the store."

"Sure thing mom, come on Inuyasha." It seemed that all awkwardness from before was gone, but she knew she would not escape the inevitable talk between the two when they were alone. "Want to help out Guy?"

"Why not?" He began rolling up his sleaves. "Where do you want us Mrs. H?"

"Follow me." She smiled brightly as she led them back into the house. Indicating toward a good pile of twenty boxes nodded, "Thank you, without you three it would have taken all day."

She was about heft up a box when Inuyasha took it from her, "Don't worry about it Higurashi-san. We've got it."

"That's so considerate of you Touken-kun." She smiled and looked over to Gramps, "This one will Kagome some good."

Kagome blushed as she picked up her a box of her own. "Mom!"

"Well a mother has to make sure of these things." Satsuki let out a sigh, "Especially when it seems Guy won't be wooing my daughter anytime soon."

"Wooing?" Guy raised an amused eyebrow as he followed Inuyasha's example of carrying two boxes, taking advantage of demon strength but not full advantage. If they wanted, the pair of them could carry the boxes in one trip, but Satsuki and Gramps didn't know about their youkai status.

"Too late Guy. My daughter has moved on." She shook her head, "I had such high hopes for you two. I was even imagining cute little grandchildren with black hair running around the shrine within the next few years."

"Oh God." Kagome blushed even farther.

"What? You don't think our children would be cute?" Guy snickered.

"But too late Guy. My daughter now has Inuyasha. If you try anything now there will be a love triangle. That would complicate matters and delay the coming of my grandchildren."

Kagome shook her head, "Mom, stop before you embarrass me further. Also, I have no idea why you haven't figured it out mom, but Guy's married."

Surprise came over Satsuki's eyes, relief over Inuyasha's, and amuzement in Guy's.

"Oh dear, married? For how long have you been married?"

"For four years Mrs. H."

"Four years! My goodness! Now Guy, why haven't I met her? You should have brought her so I could meet her."

"I did, but that weekend you and Gramps were in Kyoto visiting a relative. And she's always so busy. She works as a trauma surgeon in the Tokyo General ER."

"Well then I guess she would be busy." Satsuki let out a sigh and faced Inuyasha, "I see you're my only hope."

"Stop trying to rope him in mom." With that she nudged the two demons out the door with boxes in hand, "Come on guys. Let's get this over with."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: I was going to keep going on this chapter but I thought it was a good place to stop. I'm sure people get annoyed by cliffies, and frankly, I think I get annoyed by them too (says the author of the fic...). Also, I would like to say that this fic is no where near over. Some people have left reviews about posting up my final chapters... where did you get that idea? Because there is a lot more to come in the wacky world that belongs to hoshi-ni-onegai. Do you honestly think I'll let Kag and Inu off that easily? Come on! I am a young adult that is in her prime of angst, let me share it to all my fanfic characters! Well, I know I am a horrible person when it comes to keeping to deadline but this fic will continue (because in all honesty, I love writing it). I may not have all the time in the world like I want but I do hope to write a story that appeals to someone out there. So, without further ado, I bit you farewell. And a review left would be nice, and a nice way to boost my very low confidence when it comes to my writing. C ya o

I haven't done this in a while–

thank you to all who reviewed!: soul-simplicity, kaiti, jessica, Inuyasha Fan, KuTiExAzNxAnGeL, gohan/videlgoten/trunkslover, Senko, OneHellkat, AngelMiko289, Tsugath, Chelsea, Miko Kagome Archer, and anyone else I have missed, thank you so much!!!

humble-bumble: well here is answer to your question about kagome's emotional confusion. In the manga (in japanese) it says 'watashiwa inuyasha ga suki' which direct traslation means 'i live inuyasha'... love in japanese is 'ai' and it is used very rarely amongst the young... if that makes sense... just bare with me...

Sakura Blossom-Cilla-85:P : I laughed at your bat man comment, I brightened my day. It's a moth demon but I can see whwere the mix up would come in o However, I am sorry that you think Kagome being a goddess story line is bullshit...

Inuchic515: sorry about my spelling... i can't spell for the life of me, i'll try to be more careful :)

Naraku: yes i did kill you... i thought i established that in the first chapter... look, if you don't like yourself dead don't read the fic mumbles moron

NefCanuck: so here it was Inu fighting in his human form... sorry that it wasn't much of a fight...

Kaida Mai: I have no idea if you typed out 'Really' that many times or if you copy and pasted, but you review was very encouraging o thank you!

Personage: I'm glad you like my fic, and please apologize to your family on behalf for disrupting their peaceful environment :)

Till next time


	13. Finally

1Author Notes: I know, I know. . . where the hell have you been Hoshi! I'm really sorry, I just kept on getting distracted! Especially with fanart! I had this chapter done 2 weeks ago, but my brother came home from college and thought that the internet at home (which is sadly only at dial-up status) was all for him. . . so I have been banned to the unknown. . . well, more like really bad reality television (which I hate). Anyways, I would like to thank you all for your patience! You are all saints! (or whatever your religious beliefs makes you. . . just you know, something patient) Well without further ado, my new chappie! I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Kagome. Miroku to Sango (despite the fact that she may deny it). So who belongs to Hoshi?. . . uh. . . can I get back to you on that one?

". . ." dialogue

'. . .' thoughts

. . .- the creepy voice guy

**Finally**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

Ofuda: a religious paper with things written on them to ward off bad spirits (demons)

#warning: curse words come up here and there b/c that's Inuyasha's character and I tend to swear in real life. . . sorry#

"Miroku's coming over today."

They were on their way back from the Higurashi Shrine when Inuyasha broke the silence.

"Miroku?"

"Yeah, you know the lecherous monk."

Kagome huffed, "Yes, I know who Miroku is. My question is why is he coming?"

"I called him this morning to put up ofudas around the house. I don't want something like last night to happen again." He snarled at the memory of the moth demon taking Kagome away, right out of very own kitchen no less.

"I guess it's safe to assume that things like that aren't a common occurrence at your residency?"

"Most youkai aren't dumb enough to try to get anywhere near my house to pose a threat. You heard what Guy said, just by age standing I'm one of the most feared and respected youkai there are."

"And I'm sure your short temper and brute strength has nothing to do with it."

He grumbled as he steered around a corner, "It's not my fault if a lot of people piss me off."

Letting out a bursting laugh she shook her head, "Everyone pisses you off!"

"You don't."

She smiled at that, "You're sweet. A terrible liar, but sweet. Inuyasha, I think I tick you off more than the rest of the world population combined."

"Well, you're infuriating sometimes." He pulled up the car to the house gates and parked by the garage.

Getting out of the car Kagome answered back, "Well, you're a jerk sometimes."

"Only because you're so infuriating." He trailed after her as she made her way to the side door that entered into the house.

Entering the door that lead into the decimated kitchen Kagome turned around with both hands gesturing for him to embellish. "Tell me Inuyasha, what about me is so infuriating?"

"You don't listen when it's good for you, and you have way too many insecurities about how I feel toward you."

She threw her hands up in the air, "Well isn't that the pot calling the kettle!"

"Pot? Kettle? What are you making tea? Don't change the subject!"

"You don't listen or pay attention and you're insecure about my feelings too! So don't go around accusing me of things you're guilty of too!"

"I listen!"

With her hands on her hips she stepped toward him, "When?"

"I always listen and pay attention!"

She leaned back and looked at him critically, "Really? Prove it."

He was struck dumbfounded. "Prove it?"

"Yeah, tell me an instance where you used those dog ears of yours to listen."

He growled, "Fine. If I didn't listen or pay attention how do I know that while you were in the feudal era you had a test to take for math every other Thursday? That your favorite color is blue and hated the fact that you had to wear a green uniform to school everyday? That you carry an extra stash of ramen around that you don't tell me about, so that you can bribe me with it later on? That you have a recurring dream about playing a game of chess with a monkey and losing?"

Kagome's eyes widened, "I never told anyone tha-"

As if she hadn't interrupted, he continued, "That you talk in your sleep? That if you think you gained a gram of weight you give most of your food to Shippou thinking we wouldn't notice?"

Kagome shook her head, "How do you know all this?"

"I told you. I pay attention. When it come to you, I'm always paying attention."

She didn't know what to say. What was she supposed to say something like that? The guy did prove his point well. And she blushed at how much Inuyasha knew about her. "When. . ."

"When what? 'When did you get so smart Inuyasha'?" He smiked down at her, knowing that he had proven her wrong.

She shook her head gently, "No. . ."

"Then what? If you have a question: ask it."

Staring up at his face hesitantly she let out in a breathy whisper, "When did you fall in love with me?"

Stepping back a step due to the unexpected question, Inuyasha's eyes widened and he stammered, "W-what? What kind of question is that?"

She looked to the side and glanced at the gaping hole in the wall that the kitchen now sported, "Please, just answer. . . when was it?"

Gathering his wits he went up to her until they were centimeters away from each other. Tilting her face up by the chin he searched her eyes. "Does it matter?"

Before she could answer a resonating chime echoed through the house.

"That's probably Miroku." He stepped away from Kagome to go answer the door but her hand stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

"He can wait."

The bell rung again.

"The ofudas are really important Kagome."

She tugged on his wrist with pleading eyes, "So is this."

The ringing of the front door became incessant. He snarled at her through clenched teeth, partially at the door and partially at Kagome. "What you're asking me isn't fair."

She suddenly let go of his wrist as if had burned her. Stepping back she looked away, "I'm sorry."

"Ka-" The doorbell kept ringing and he growled, snapping at the door. "I'm fucking coming! Hold on!"

Swinging the front door open he growled at Miroku, "Only have to ring the damn thing once you moron."

Shrugging Miroku made his way into the house, "Thought it might urge you to open the door faster. . . obviously, it doesn't work."

Taking note of the staff that Miroku carried Inuyasha took it from him, "Why the hell are you carrying this around after all these years? You haven't used this thing since the turn of the century."

"Hearing about your bout with a demon last night I thought it best if I brought along a weapon I felt comfortable with." The calm former-monk snatched the object in question out of the half demon's hands.

Huffing Inuyasha led the monk back to the kitchen where Kagome waited, "That's not a weapon. A sword is a weapon, a bow and arrow is a weapon, heck even a giant boomerang is a weapon! A holy staff is not a weapon."

"Ah, but I remember a time when I could block the attacks form your tetsusaiga with this staff."

Inuyasha growled, "That was before the wind scar."

"But I have smacked some sense into your head with it since then." Seeing Kagome standing in the kitchen Miroku smiled. "How are you this fine evening Kagome?"

Returning the smile she answered, "As good as can be expected."

"Well, let me make it better by putting the ofudas up." With this he pulled out a good stack of ofudas. "With a piece property this large, it will take a while."

Kagome took half the stack. "I'll help."

Miroku raised an eyebrow, "You know how to use ofudas?"

Inuyasha spoke for the first time from his place in the doorway, "I was meaning to ask you about that. You got rid of that leprechaun in office. How did you learn to do that?"

"A leprechaun? Those are some tricky demons, you must be skilled in your use of them."

Kagome shrugged, "If you say so. Ofudas went along with my miko training, but when I got involved with the Underground, Guy introduced me to an old monk that taught me all he knew about them."

"What is his name?"

"His name was Sakae-sama. He passed away last year."

Miroku nodded, "I knew him, not very well, but I knew him. He was a good man. I had heard rumors that he picked up an apprentice for his final years; however, I did not hear that it was a female, let alone you."

"He and Guy thought it would be best if less people knew my name. We didn't know why I had so much power, so we decided the best thing to do was to keep it under wraps until we knew why. . . well, at least now I know why."

"It must have been a confusing time for you."

She smiled, "Well, confusion ensues where Kagome goes. Now, let's get these things up."

"Very well. I'll take the bottom floor. Will you mind doing the second and third floor with Inuyasha? Then perhaps have him jump on the roof with you so you can seal that area as well?"

"Sure thing." Walking past Inuyasha she smiled up at him as if nothing had happened before at the shrine, or in the kitchen. "I'll go get started on the windows."

The hanyou nodded and stood there as she left to go up stairs. He was pulled out of his wandering thoughts by Miroku's voice.

"You know Inuyasha, this gets old very quickly."

Turning around he saw that Miroku had started out by putting the ofudas up in the kitchen. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Your inability to converse with Kagome. It is really quite extraordinary how much miscommunication occurs between the two of you."

"We don't miscommunicate. We. . . just. . ."

The monk smiled knowingly, "There is no need to tell me anything. Look, I will finish up as quickly as I possibly can down here. Then, I'll leave so that you two can talk and yell in peace to each other."

Inuyasha sighed with a smile, "Thanks."

"No problem. And this way, if you two make up and decided to do so in the bedroom you have no worries about me overhearing your excursions." Miroku was met with a deftly aimed chair leg to the head.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Inuyasha caught Kagome in the hallway moving from one room to the other. "Kagome."

She turned toward him and tilted her head. "I still have a few more rooms to finish before you have to take me on the roof. Until then, you can keep yourself busy."

She stepped into the room across the hall from her own. Inuyasha followed her in and watched as she pulled out one of the ofudas and chanted as she held it in a practiced manner between her index and middle finger. As she continued with her chant the strip of paper waved about until with the final word form her mouth it seemed to spark and straighten like a pole as she slapped in onto the window.

Hearing applause from behind her she turned.

"Wow Kagome, that was pretty impressive." He stopped his applause to smirk at her.

She shook her head, "You saw me using an ofuda at the office already."

"Yeah, but it didn't do the wave and spark thing that time."

"This one's a bit different. . . a lot stronger. This will keep out even the strongest of demons."

She walked over to the window next to it and once again started chanting. When done Inuyasha questioned, "Am I going to be able to get back into my house if I leave?"

Kagome did a third chant for the wall between the two windows and turned to smile at Inuyasha. "Probably not, if Miroku had written the ofudas in the conventional way, but he added exceptions."

"Exceptions?"

"The ofudas will let you, your brother, Shippou, Myouga, Kirara, and Kouga in."

"Oh God. Why couldn't he have still kept my brother and Kouga out? I really don't need to see there asses around my house anytime soon."

"He's your brother."

"That used to spend his free time trying kill me!"

"And Kouga's your friend."

"Since when? He's more of a rival then an enemy."

"A rival for what exactly?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, "Are you actually asking me that question?"

She huffed and made her way past him to get to another room. "You really need to get over that. There was never anything between Kouga and I and you know it!"

"Keh." He continued to follow her from room to room as she put the ofudas up one by one.

Inuyasha watched as she chanted and the ofuda she was concentrating on would flicker and spark. It felt odd to him. The last time she had seen Kagome in the feudal era she was nowhere near as trained as she was now. Quite frankly, the only things Kagome could do with her power was to sense the jewel shards, purify them, pass through the well, and shoot purifying arrows. Just what he had seen her do since their fateful meeting three days ago he gathered that she could heal the injured, was skilled with the use of ofudas, and could control her miko energy. Was all of this power coming from the fact that she now had the whole Shikon no Tama within her possesion?

That thought made him freeze. He had completely forgotten about that. His thoughts and words in the feudal era had always been about finding the Shikon no kakera and making the jewel whole again. Inuyasha had wanted to become a full demon so that he was no longer shunned by the demon society, but now he was still a hanyou but stronger than ever. The Shikon no Tama had plagued his thoughts for years. Then how had he completely forgotten about it when he met Kagome again? His driving goal for many years had been that blasted jewel, but now. . . it was Kagome. But the question now remained and loomed over him. Where had the Shikon no Tama gone?

"Hey Kagome?"

She turned toward him, "Yeah?" She gestured for him to follow her to the next room so she could finish up.

"Where's the Shikon no Tama?" Inuyasha was obviously not one to beat around the bush.

She froze in mid-stride of pulling out another ofuda, "Why do you want to know?"

He shrugged even though with her back turned to him she wouldn't be able to see the gesture, "I don't know. After years of hunting the shards down I just wonder where the thing went. . . Oh, and don't forget unspeakable power that any youkai can acquire with the possession of it."

Kagome didn't immediately answer and went about sealing the room. With that done the second floor was done and she headed up the stairs to the second floor where Inuyasha's room resided.

Hot on her heels as she climbed the stairs he spoke in an irritated voice at her, "Do you plan to answer me anytime this century?"

"Look, the Shikon no Tama is safe and that's all you need to know." She snappishly answered.

"The hell?" The confused hanyou stomped after into his room.

Ignoring the topic she looked around the room that was the largest bedroom in the house where it also had it's own independent balcony but much larger than the one in her own room. In the middle was a four-post canopy bed with a beige comforter and white silk sheets could be seen peeking out from around the edges of the unkept bed. The walls were painted in a smoky light red and the carpet was a lush off-white. Occupying one corner was a desk and on a wall was displayed the sheathed tetsusaiga. The room led to its own bathroom and a spacious walk-in closet.

"I like your room." She wandered around the room checking out his digs as she set about putting the ofudas up.

"You were in here this morning." He growled at her.

"I was too worried about you, I didn't get a chance to really look around."

"Well then, by all means." He answered sarcastically as she finished putting up the scared seals and continued looking around his room.

Stopping in front of the tetsusaiga she spoke to him while facing the sword, "Why don't you carry tetsusaiga around anymore?"

Still pissed at her previous response he snapped at her, "In modern day Japan? You're fucking insane."

Turning she raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess, you're mad."

"No shit Sherlock."

Letting out a sigh she avoided eye contact. "Be mad then. I really don't know what to say to you."

"You could tell me what you know about the Shikon no Tama! Why the hell won't you tell me?"

With the final ofuda in place she whirled around to glare at him. "So you can wish to become a full-blooded demon? Not over my dead body!"

Inuyasha was smacked back into place by shock and whispered, "Is that what you're worried about?"

Her face scrunched up ready yell again when she drew back. "No, you told me yesterday that you don't want to be full demon any more. . . but. . . what if you change your mind?"

He walked over to her and pulled her into a tight embrace. "I won't change my mind. God, the last thing I want is for you to be is afraid of me." Bringing his hands up to her face he leaned his forehead against hers, "Anyways, I can kick any full demon's ass any day. I'm stronger now than I ever thought I could be when I was younger."

"What about Sesshoumaru?"

He growled, "Freaks don't count."

She smiled, "Okay."

He smirked then gave her a fanged kiss on the forehead. "We really need to sit down and have a long talk. I'm tired of all this miscommunication."

"Let's get these ofudas on the roof than we can have that talk."

"Sounds good to me."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Stretching his back and hearing it give a resounding crack Guy let out a sigh. A new case had made its up to his office desk, a rarity being that he was the head of the Tokyo police department. The only way that the case even got his attention was the name that was tagged along with it: Kagome Higurashi. Guy had gotten the case regarding Hojo's death, being that he made it imperative that any case involving Kagome be sent to him immediately he had gotten it the moment Inuyasha made the call. Although Guy had known about Hojo's death he did not want to bring it up when speaking to Kagome. She would tell him about the death of one of her best friends when she was ready. He and Kagome may be close, but he never got around to associating with her friends. Sure, he met the guy a couple times when he went to Kagome's apartment but he never really got to know him.

And so, due to the case, he had to haul his ass into the department on a Sunday afternoon when he had gotten a call about new development within the case. They finally got a lead to the death of

the poor man. In effort to nor cause a mess with "Who killed the guy? And why?" only youkai police officers were assigned to the case. All of them knew that it was a youkai that killed Hojo

and a Touken brother that had killed the youkai. Only Guy knew it was specifically Inuyasha and not Sesshoumaru.

Taking the coat from the hook by his office door he pulled it on and brought along files of the case as he head out of the department. Making his way toward his car he glanced at his watch. He had gotten the memo from the nervous and completely frightened Underground phone

operator telling him that a Touken brother told/threatened him that any leads were to be reported to him immediately.

Guy wondered if he should call up the overprotective hanyou at that very moment. . . then again, what does "immediately" mean really? He decided to call Inuyasha about the case tomorrow.

There really wasn't much they could do that day anyways.

Guy grinned, wouldn't Inuyasha be surprised finding out he was on the case?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The clocked ticked away on the mantel of the fireplace in the living room. Kagome fidgeted around in her seat on the couch next to Inuyasha. It was easier said than done. . . or said as the case may be. They had decided that after the house was sealed they would get around to having the long put off conversation. About what? Everything that really mattered.

"So. . ." Inuyasha turned slightly in his seat to face her.

She kept looking forward, knowing that eye contact would be her undoing. Why did the man have to have the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen? And why was he able to drag practically everything out of her with just a look? Must be a talent.

"Yeah."

"Should we get started?"

She continued to look forward twisting the hem of her shirt within her hands. "Where do we start?"

"What needs to be said?"

Kagome let out sigh, "There is too much, we need a starting point. . . How about if I ask you a question?"

He gave a half smile then leaned back against the armrest to be facing her. "No better place to start."

Taking a deep calming breath she asked the question that had been bothering her for the past hour. "When did you fall in love with me?" She squeezed her eyes shut as if waiting for a blow as she fisted her hands in her skirt.

He winced at the question, "Maybe there is a better place to start."

"So you won't answer." It was a statement not an answer. She gave a pained smile as she looked over to him, "You're right, it's not fair. How about if I answer your question about the Shikon no Tama?"

His eyes widened, "Then you know where it is?"

She silently nodded her head.

"Where is it?"

Taking in a shaky breath she turned so that her body was facing him. With her head still tilted down she reached for Inuyasha's hand that had been resting on the back of the couch. She pulled it so that she held it within her grasp and he leaning closer to her with a questioning look on his face. She traced the claws of his hand and she turned it every which way. She remembered when his claws had been longer and deadly as they ripped flesh while in his full demon form. Did he really want to stay a hanyou forever? He had said so earlier but would he one day want the demonic blood within him to fully take over?

She smiled down at the clawed hand and brought it up to her chest and placed it palm flat just above the valley between her breasts.

Inuyasha blushed but then it soon disappeared as he whipped his head up from where he was staring at his hand. "H-here?"

She nodded nervously, "I think it sunk into my chest when I came through the well the final time. It's exactly where it would have been if it was hanging from my old necklace."

His hand remained where she had placed it. "I can feel it. . . not physically, like there is lump there or anything. . . but it's there. I can feel the aura but only after getting this close. . . is this what you felt every time we went shard hunting?"

"I guess. . . I don't know what it feels like to you."

"Kinda like a hum."

"Then yeah, it's the same." Kagome looked down with a woeful expression.

Bringing his hand from her chest to cup her cheek to tilt her face toward him. "What's wrong this time?"

"You know where it is now."

"Did you want it to be some big secret?"

"The only thing between you and the shikon no tama is flesh and bones. All you have to do is tear your hand in and rip it out with your claws. It's not that hard."

He retracted the hand that was rested on her cheek as if it burned. He stood up just as quickly and backed away with wide disbelieving eyes. "You actually think I would do that?"

"It's the only way that I could think of."

"Only way to what! Kill you!" At that moment Inuyasha could not remember a time when he was as furious as he was now at Kagome. "What the hell is wrong with you!"

Wrapping her arms around herself she looked away from him. "It's the only way for you to be happy. The legend says that the hanyou pinned to the Goshinboku lived a happy life with the original miko that guarded the jewel."

"The legend isn't right! You know it and I know it." He kneeled before her, "Is this what it's about? Some stupid legend that has the facts all wrong?"

A tear made it's way down her face, "But you can get the jewel out of me and make a wish. Make a wish to have Kikyou back."

Inuyasha roughly grabbed her upper arms and shook her, "We're back to this again! God Kagome! Let it go! I don't love her!"

"I'm leaving!" Her shout echoed through the house and stabbed Inuyasha's heart.

"What?"

Taking in a shaky breath she closed her eyes and let another lone trail of tear fall. "Seshoumaru told me about Wakahirume. That means that I'll be leaving after my second calling is over. Then you'll be alone here again." She opened her eyes to stare at his molten stare, "I don't want you to be alone again. You deserve to be happy. If you take the jewel and make your wish to have Kikyou back you'll have her with you. Like you said Inuyasha, she was your first friend. That has to mean something."

"I love you. Not her, not anyone else. That means something more to me."

She brushed back his bangs and gave a sad smile, "You'll learn to love her."

"No. I won't Kagome. If you're gone or dead or whatever, I won't move on. I've been alive for five hundred and sixty something years and I've only loved one woman. Do you actually think that I can just 'learn to love' someone else? God Kagome. You're the only one."

"I don't want you to be alone."

"You don't have to worry about that." He pulled her into a tight embrace. "I'm never letting you go. Damn the gods, goddesses, and all their rules to hell. I'm keeping you with me forever."

"How can this work?"

He heard the desperation in her voice and tightened his hold around her, "I don't know but I'll find a way. I'm not losing you after waiting this long."

Tears poured out of her eyes as she grabbed onto his shirt as if someone was ready to pull her away at that very moment. "I don't want to go. I want my forever to be with you."

"I know the feeling."

"Do you have a plan? Do you know how to make this work?" She gazed down at him expectantly.

"Do you want this? I don't want to push. You told me not to push."

Searching his eyes Kagome smiled. Leaning toward him she allowed her mouth to meet his. There was still so much left unanswered. If Kagome was a goddess then that means that when her next calling came she would leave in the end. She didn't want to go back to her divine family. Why would she go back to a place she did not remember? Her family and friends were here. Inuyasha was here. But the prophecy stated that Wakahirume would return to her 'family,' then she would be ripped away from here. They would find a way to make it work right? Until then, Kagome was determined not to waste time beating around the bush.

She broke away from the kiss and stared at Inuyasha for a reaction. He opened his eyes then smirked, "Is this permission to push?"

Grinning she kissed him again. This time Inuayasha raised slightly off the floor to lean forward and push her into the cushions on the sofa. Moving his lips against hers the kiss grew more intense by the second. Moving the right hand that had been cupping her face he allowed it to slide down her neck and arms, then to rest it upon her hip. Stroking her over the fabric of her clothes he asked silent permission to go farther. Wrapping her arms around his neck she pulled him further onto the couch, forcing his right knee to rest on the edge between her spread legs.

With her encouragement he licked her bottom lip as his hand made its way under her shirt, still innocently stroking her hip and going no further. Parting her lips to allow his tongue entry. This was unfamiliar territory for them both but they went on with fervor.

Inuyasha tried to memorize the inner contours of her mouth and she responded with equal passion. When his fang scraped across her lip, a delightful shiver went down her spine. However, he thought it was one of disgust and broke the kiss panting out, "I'm sorry."

With daze glossed eyes she looked at him with a quizzical face. "About what?"

"My fangs. I'm sorry."

Raising an eyebrow she rested her self on her elbows as he remained leaning over her. "For what? Having them?"

"In the jist of it? Yeah."

She smiled and tilted her head up to kiss the fang that had been peeking out over his bottom lip. Wrapping her arms around his neck she grinned back at him. "I like your fangs. If I was kissing you and didn't feel the fangs, it wouldn't be kissing you." Tilting her head to the side she stroked his left ear. "I want some fang-action when we're kissing."

He let out a chuckle, "Fang-action?"

"Yes. Action with fang. There are only a few men I know that can give me that." Hearing his growl she kissed him again then whispered in his ear, "And you're the only one out of them that I want it from."

"So this can happen again?"

She tilted her head to the side, "What?"

"The kissing."

Smiling she brought her lips to his, "Does that answer your question?"

"I mayneed further clarification." He leaned forward and started up another searing kiss.

After a few minutes of a heavy, much over due, make-out session Kagome pushed him back. Drawing in much needed breath she smiled, "As much as I love doing that, there's still so much to talk about."

Leaning his forehead against hers he closed his eyes and nodded slightly, "Yeah. Talk. Talking is good." Opening one eye he peered at her, "You do know I've been waiting five hundred years for this right?"

A panicked look entered her eye and she shoved him away. "W-waiting for what?" Pointing a shaky accusing finger at him she nervously scolded at him, "Y-you know w-we can't have. . ." Looking around the room to see if anyone was there, then she said in a harsh whisper. "Sex."

Letting out a laugh he pulled her back to sit next to him on the couch. "You don't have to whisper about it."

"B-but what about the whole 'burning of the soul in the fires of the deepest level in hell'? I personally like my soul. . . intact."

Smiling he brushed back her hair, "I like your soul intact too, but I'm sure talking about sex won't destroy it. I'm sure the act is what does people in."

"So do you think I am the goddess Wakahirume?"

A tense silence stretched on until Inuyasha finally answered, "I don't know. If anything I wish you weren't."

"Me neither." She rested her head on his shoulder, "Do you know a way we can find out for sure?"

"Like what? A goddess test? I don't think you can get those at the drug store like the pregnancy tests Kagome."

She huffed, "I didn't mean something like that!" Letting out tired sigh she cuddled into his side even more. "Do you have any contact with Midoriko? She might be able to answer some of our questions."

"Sorry, the last time I saw her was right after you left through the well."

She turned slightly forward to look at him surprised, "You mean you've been living for five centuries equipped with only with the knowledge that you may contribute to my second calling? You've been driving blind all this time?"

He shrugged, "I guess so. But not completely blind. I knew I'd meet you and that was enough."

Letting out a 'awwwe' she kissed him on the cheek. "That was so cheesy, but still incredibly sweet."

Feigning annoyance he turned his head away from her, but in reality to hide his blush. "Keh. Look, if we need to talk then we should talk. Get this over with."

Nodding in agreement she let out a sigh, "I just wish we could figure this whole goddess thing out. It's not bad enough that I'm one of the few real mikos left but I may be a potential goddess. You know, these kinds of things don't happen to other girls."

"Other girls wouldn't be able to handle it."

". . . I used to be one of those other girls. . . it's so odd how much life can change in one day. One day I'm a normal teenage girl with normal teenage problems. Then I'm suddenly pulled into a well and meet up with a grumpy dog demon that drags me across the ancient Japanese countryside."

His eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "Grumpy?"

"Well, most definitely not cheery." Laying her head on his shoulder she tapped her chin, "When do you think my second calling will be?"

"I don't know. Hopefully not for a while. If this goddess theory pans out to be true I don't want you to leave so quickly. I just found you. . ."

"But shouldn't we prepare for it? My last one wasn't exactly a walk in the park."

"How do you want us to prepare? Stock up on semi-automatic machine guns and heaping piles of C-4?"

She shrugged, "Enough firepower to blow up half of Tokyo was no exactly what I had in mind, but isn't there something else I should be doing? Shouldn't I be learning some new tricks? And taking up karate or jiujitsu?"

"You want to learn to fight?" He leaned back away from her to look at her face in surprise.

"I'm surprised I haven't already. Sure I can shoot an arrow like no one's business but when it comes to close range fighting I'm as useful as a you trying to negotiate."

"Hey! I can negotiate!" He declared, sputtering indignantly.

"Yes, you're oh-so-rational with your policy of 'beat to unrecognizable mass of flesh now, ask questions later.'"

"Give me some credit, I wasn't _that_ impulsive."

"That's exactly why our first meeting was filled with tea, crumpets, and idle chatter."

"You can't hold that against me, that was a long time ago."

She grinned at him and patted him on the head as if he were an obedient puppy, "And we're so proud that you've grown up!"

"Don't patronize me."

Sigh for the umpteenth time Kagome settled back to sit at his side. When she didn't say anything Inuyasha peered down at her and noticed she was deep in thought. Probably worrying about her godly status and imperative need that came about to find out to the truth. Lapsed into silence, Inuyasha ran over all their options, and vaguely on how much ramen was left in the cupboards.

Nothing was said for a good period of time until Kagome sudden jumped up from her seat and whirled around to look at him with a hopeful and maybe overly enthusiastic look on her face. "If we can't contact Midoriko why don't we go to the source! We can try to contact Amatersu-sama!"

When Inuyasha had seen that look of unperturbed hope beaming from her face his hope rose as well; however, with the quick blurt of the nonsense from her mouth it sank like the mighty Titanic.

"You're kidding right?"

She shook her head with unwavering exuberance, "Who better to supply us with goddess-related questions then a goddess herself?"

Leaning back he rolled his head along the back of the couch, not really listening to her anymore. "What makes you think a goddess is even going to give you the time of day?"

"Well according to Japanese mythology Wakahirume is her younger sister and she grieved for her enough to hide behind a boulder and bring darkness to the world. Now, if I am said sister that is loved so dearly, why wouldn't she meet with me?"

"That's a great idea!" But his excitement completely fake, "You know what? We'll swing by Amaterasu's apartment tomorrow after work and I'm sure she'll fill us in on everything."

Kagome glared at him, "Now you're just abusing sarcasm."

He shook his head, "That's beside the point. Sure you could be her sister and all, but how in the hell do you plan on contacting her? As far as I know, no mortal has ever been able to meet her. Did you expect her to suddenly appear because you yell out 'big sis! I have a word I'd like to share with you'?"

"Don't be smart-ass Inuyasha. This is what I figured. The gods really don't make contact with the human world, they seem to avoid it like the plague. But remember the hamaya? It was one of the few times gods ever sent a message to this world. Being that I can shoot sacred arrows I can tie a plea to meet me on the arrow and shoot it in the sky. If it fails. . . well, there's no harm in trying."

"Except that there would be a stray arrow that could fall anywhere on earth and also the perfectly good arrow you wasted to shoot into the sky."

"It's worth a shot isn't it?"

"I'm hoping that wasn't a poor attempt at a pun." When he saw that she was waiting for a serious answer from him he rolled his eyes and nodded. "Fine, we can try it out."

"I wasn't waiting for a your permission Inuyasha. I thought you might actually see my reasoning behind this. I would have done it even if you thought it was ludicrous."

"So are you going to carry this plan out tonight?"

She sat back down next to him, "No, I thought it would be better if I did it during the day. Since Amaterasu-sama is the goddess of the sun and well. . . the sun is out during the day."

"Then I guess we'll be shooting an arrow at the gods tomorrow."

"Not tomorrow. I just started working at your bank. I can't go around shirking my responsibilities so quickly."

He raised an eyebrow at her, "You plan to wait till the week end?"

"No, I plan to call in sick on Tuesday. That way I can try to get two days worth of work done tomorrow and not leave Mr. Williams completely hanging the next day."

He smiled, "Your habit of worrying about other people is one day going to bite you in the ass."

She grinned back at him, "I think it already has a couple times. But it takes a couple times of me getting burned to realize not to touch the stove when it's hot."

"That could easily be labeled as insane. And you do realize you just told your boss you were going to take a sick day even when you really weren't?"

"You're the one that's been telling me to skip work every other day Inuyasha. Also, I think world peril and my godly status is a little bit more important than your bank's overseas accounts."

"Whatever. So. . . are we done? Is there anything more we have to clear up?"

Smiling, she humorously rolled her eyes. "I don't think we'll ever be done clearing this up, but I think we made good progress."

"You make it sound like some kind of home makeover project."

"Relationship makeover. . . that sounds odd. . ."

"Everything you say sounds odd." He stood up and pulled her along with him. "So, what do want to eat?"

"We're eating? Again?"

He looked her quizzically, "I don't know about you Kagome but I eat three meals a day."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That was sickening sweet, disgusting really.-

Inuyasha let out a groan as he lay back in bed for the night with only a pair of long flannel pants and boxers on. He let out a frustrated sigh and growled, 'What the fuck do you want?'

I thought you would get used to hearing from me when you were alone by now. You're apparently too dense to see a correlation between the times I come by.-

'Leave me the fuck alone. Don't you have anyone else to torture?'

I only have impending business with you.-

'Goody.' He shook his head trying to rid the voice but to no avail. 'What the hell do you want from me? Drive me insane?'

I guess you're not as dense as I thought you were. I must give you some credit for figuring that much out.-

The hanyou's eyes widened. He had just said/thought that in pure sarcasm but he hit the nail right on the head? The guy wanted to drive him insane? Wasn't telling the target his goals the worst thing he could do?

Not really. It's still pretty impossible to avoid insanity all together.-

'Get out of my head!'

Alas, I can't do that can I? Wouldn't be able to achieve my goal and all.-

'First thing tomorrow I'm asking Miroku about you.'

You actually think that monk can save you? That the ofudas you put around your house will keep you safe? That it will keep Kagome safe?-

That was when flashes of heinous images were forced into Inuyasha's mind by the intruding voice. The previously pristine white room that Kagome was staying in had splashes of red and the sheets on the bed were drenched with blood. Blood. There so much of it. Too much to not be fatal. On the bed lay Kagome her eyes wide and frozen as her body was poetically lain across the sheets in a relaxed manner. Her throat had been ripped out, he life's liquid still slightly oozing out despite the fact that she had been cold and dead for a while now. Remnants of her trachea, esophagus, and vocal cords were adorning her neck like haphazardly thrown on necklace. Claw marks could be seen as the cause of the mutilation of the body. Multiple slashes were apparent on her abdomen as well. The place, that if she had been left to live, would have one day probably carried her child. But what horrified Inuyasha the most was not the image of Kagome, but the one of himself. The vision of himself sitting on the bed beside her, stroking her cheek with his elongated claws that were clearly covered in her blood. His eyes red, pupils blue, fangs long that it protruded out of his mouth due to a lack of space, and the facial markings. With an insane and possessive look in his eyes he stroked her cheek as he smiled down at the dead miko. "You're mine. You can't leave me anymore. We can be together forever now. You're mine. You can't leave me anymore. We can be together forever now." He continued to say in a calm manner as if a mantra.

At that moment Inuyasha steeled himself and used all his mental resistance to push the image out of his head. Letting in a gasping breath he shot up from the bed he had been laying on and sprinted down the stairs. He had to check. He had to know for sure that it was only a trick. Something a sick bastard was forcing him to see. He had to know she was okay. That he hadn't killed her in an insane need to have her by his side no matter what.

Slamming the doors open to Kagome's room he ran to her bedside. She had been suddenly awakened by the sound of the doors and Inuyasha charging into her room. Sitting up slightly she turned to look at Inuyasha that was now at her bedside. His eyes racked over her body, checking for signs that of any claw marks. Seeing none he let out a breath he did not realize he had been holding. Reaching out a hand to cup her cheek, his legs let out from under him and he kneeled on the floor next to her. "Y-you're alive."

She tilted her head to the side in question. "Inuyasha?"

"You're okay." He pulled her down in an awkward position where her lower body remained on the bed and her upper body was crushed in an embrace. "You're okay."

"Inuyasha?" When his grip didn't loosen nor did he answer she called his name again, "Inuyasha? What's wrong? Why wouldn't I be okay?"

He pulled back slightly and held her buy the neck, then pulled her forward to crush a desperate kiss on her lips. After receiving the assurance that he need he pulled away. "I didn't kill you."

Seeing the forlorn expression on his face she pulled him onto the bed with all her strength and held him as he gripped onto her, convincing himself that the steady heartbeat he feels from her is not an illusion.

"Inuyasha, calm down. It's okay. I'm fine. Everything is fine." After a few moments and his previously erratic breathing was steadied Kagome pulled back to look him in the face. "Now, tell me what's going on."

Closing his eyes and concentrating for a moment he responded. "There's this voi-" He suddenly cut himself off. He didn't want to tell her about the voice, not until he was certain what it was. According to him, Kagome had enough to deal with: the sudden memory gain; taking over a large role in a bank; finding out if she is a goddess; testifying against Hizuki Matsuhito; the death of her roommate (whose funeral she had said she would be attending on Wednesday); someone from the underground putting a price on her head; and the second calling. It was insane the amount the young woman had to shoulder, and Inuyasha wasn't about to shove more weight on them. "I had a nightmare."

Letting out a slight sigh of relief she smiled, "No offence or anything, but I'm glad it was only that. I was convinced that you had another dire situation to tell me."

He shook his head, glad that he avoided telling her the truth. "Nothing for you to worry about."

She nodded, "So, what was the nightmare about?"

He hesitated a bit then answered, "I kinda don't want to tell you."

Kagome shook her head vehemently, "Nuh uh buddy. You barge into my room in the middle of the night scared out of your wits. You're going to tell me what it was about."

"Forget it. Just drop it. I really don't want you to know."

Resting her hand on his upper arm she made him lock eyes with him. "Look Inuyasha, from what I can piece together from what you said, you killed me in your dream. Now, knowing the main part of the dream that disturbed you I'm sure you can tell me the rest of it."

"What else is there to say. I killed you: end of story."

"You wouldn't panic so much if it was just you killing me. Tell me Inuyasha, trust me, it'll make you feel better to talk about it."

He glared at her flatly, "People only say that when they want to get the juicy details out of someone."

Letting a small smile trace her lips Kagome shook her head, "True, but I'm serious. I used to do this with my father when I was younger, it helps."

"I still rather not."

Coming down to her last resources she pushed one more time with the ultimate weapon: guilt. "I thought we were close enough to trust each other with these kinds of things. . . apparent I was greatly mistaken."

Groaning Inuyasha replied, "That's not fair. How the hell am I supposed to say no to that?" Raking a hand through his hair he sighed, "I. . ."

"No matter what it was Inuyasha, remember, it was only a dream."

Nodding he continued, "I guess I had turned into my youkai form. . . then. . . I had killed you. I think I was afraid you would leave me. . . so I had murdered you."

Taking in a breath she pulled him into her arms, "It was only a dream."

"God Kagome, it was so real. So much blood. All of it was yours and coming out of cuts I made. You were dead."

"Forget about it. It was only a dream. I told you Inuyasha, I know you would never hurt me. Not you, not your youkai form."

"You don't know how powerful the blood is. . .how wild it is."

Shaking her head she held him, "And I know you can control it. Youkai or not it's still just Inuyasha. My Inuyasha."

Pulling back and looking at her, he felt safe. Not just safe in her arms, but safe that he could hold her in his without worry. She was right, he would never kill her for trying to leave. No matter what form he was in. "You're right. I won't kill you. I'd rather kill myself than end your life."

Leaning her forehead on his she gave a soft smile and closed her eyes, "You don't have to worry about anything, I'll never leave you. I love you too much to ever leave you."

Eyes widening he took a shaky breath and cupped her face in his hands, "You love me? You know now? No doubts?"

Eyes still closed she shook her head, "No doubts." Opening her eyes to lock gazes with him she smiled wider, "I don't even know why I even had to think about it. You're the one. I mean, we're soul mates! How much more confirmation do I really need?"

"That's what told you?"

"No. I think I always knew I loved you. I was too afraid. Caring for you was easy. Falling in love with you was even easier. I didn't notice when our friendship turned into love."

"So when did this revelation happen?"

"When you were wolfing down ramen yesterday."

He shook his head, "You're serious?"

Smiling back at him she nodded, "Deadly serious."

"Are we together now?"

She stroked his cheek with her thumb, "Honestly, I can't really remember a time when we weren't. Sure, when we were younger it was on thin ice. But there was always something there."

He kissed her softly then pulled back and grinned. "Finally."

"Finally what?"

"After all these years. . . You're mine, and I'm yours."

With that said Inuyasha pulled them both under the covers and both dozed off peacefully.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: I named the chapter 'Finally' for what Inu says in the end, and for all of you. Finally! The chapter is up! Again, I am deeply sorry for how long it took for this chapter to come out. I find it harder and harder to write on a deadline. Must be my senioritis kicking in outside of school work. I'll try harder to get the next chapter out to you guys sooner! Thank you for being so patient with me!

Thank you to all my reviewers:

sweet-Inukag: if one soul dies does the other one die when they are soulmates? I never heard of that, but that is an interesting angle. . . but for the sake of not complicating an already complicated story let me skip over that detail if it is true. . . thank you for telling me though! o

dinaboo: my favorite candy is chocolate (like any other girl) wink, wink

Darkest Raindrop: although there was no new time traveling going on in the fic (just good old father time doin his job) I do enjoy the compliment!

t1nkerbell: i'm glad someone thinks that this story is worth the wait! Thank you!

Tsuki Karasu: children? not for a very long, long time

Inferna: I think i may have confused you. . . inuyasha doesn't have 'power' he just conducted miko energy through him, kinda like a conductor of electricity

Miko Kagome Archer: awesome

mrsjenthornton,karmarox, Fan of Inuyasha, Serina Tsuki, Inuchic515, KuTiExAzNxAnGeL, Haru, Miny, junyortrakr, Sakura Blossom-Cilla-85, Drake Clawfang, humble-bumble, and soul-simplicity thank you so very very reviewers:

Inusgirll89: thank you for being patient and waiting for my update

RavenShadow: next time get more sleep! the story will still be there the next morning! Thank you for sacrificing your night and reading it though! o

MyogaM34: updated. . . late

Ryguy5387: muhahaha. . . yes, at the prime of my angst!

cutiekirara13: see what happens! -.-

Till next time (when ever that is. . .) c ya!


	14. Discrepancies

1Author Notes: How do you ask to be excused for a three month absence? My God, I have been gone for a while haven't I? Well, now I really don't have an excuse if my next chapter comes out really late. High school is over and college is set. No more exams, no more insane grad parties, and no more last minute senior year preparations. But even after all the business of the past few months what kept me from updating was definitely the writers' block. Here comes the sequence of events that will set off the story. . . but I couldn't bring myself to write it. Finally I did, and honestly I'm not all that happy with it. Will I fix it? I say I will, but I know I won't. Hopefull the rest of the story will make up for that. Anyways, enjoy the chapter. Until next time, see ya.

Disclaimer: I'm hoping that after 14 chapters you know the drill already.

". . ." dialogue

'. . .' thoughts

**Discrepancies**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

". . . and your ten o'clock canceled so you have the next hour free, which should make you happy. . . Mr. Touken? Are you listening?" When the middle aged Miss Imai didn't get an immediate response, or any response for that matter, she decided that flinging the pencil that she had been tapping on her legal pad was the best form of action. With a well aimed pencil stabbing Inuyasha square between the eyes she grinned.

Rubbing his abused forehead the ticked off hanyou growled, "Would you stop doing that!"

Sighing she deftly caught the pencil that Inuyasha had childishly thrown back at her, "You have the attention span of a three year old sir. Do you even remember the last thing I said?"

He froze for a moment contemplating over anything his sensitive ears might have caught and his mind might have registered. "Uh. . . something about ten free drinks canceled at the next happy hour?"

Giving him a deadpan look she gave up, "That's exactly right. Now I'll be going back to my desk, you know what to do if you need me sir."

Just as the door was closing Inuyasha scratched his head and called out, "Hey, where's my ten o'clock?"

With a resounding click the door closed with a puzzled dog demon on the other side. Shrugging Inuyasha went about going through the piled up paper work, work he had been too distracted to really tackle because of the sudden appearance of Kagome in his life. Not that he wasn't ecstatically elated that the girl was back in his life, but she did make him get backed up on work.

Fifteen minutes later, and still no where near done, the intercom beeped on to distract Inuyasha further.

"Mr. Touken?"

"Yes Miss Imai?" He let out an exaggerated breath.

"The head of the Tokyo Police Department is here to see you sir." There was a shuffling of noise then a whispered, "Did you do something illegal sir?"

"Just send the person in Miss Imai and don't worry about it."

"He'll be right in sir." And with that, the intercom beeped off.

The door swung open and an overly cheerful Guy Donohue stepped through. Swing the door shut he sauntered up to Inuyasha's desk and sat down comfortably in the chair provided.

Right eyebrow twitching at the tiger demon's sheer audacity in making an entrance such as that. Inuyasha grinded out through clenched teeth. "The fuck are you doing in my office?"

Guy shrugged amiably, "You're the one that told me to contact you. And what better way to get a hold of someone than barging in on their work day."

"I didn't tell you to contact me. I told you Kagome and I'd swing by the station this afternoon."

Shaking his head leaned forward with his elbows resting on the edge of the arm rests. "I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about how you scared the shit out of the Underground phone connection operator for the Tokyo Police Department to death. That kid practically pissed his pants while telling me that one of the Touken brothers called about a case. Usually I'd just assign a detective from the station for the case, but being that the file had Kagome's name on it, it came straight to me. So, in other words Inuyasha: I'm Guy Donohue and I'll be heading the Hojo Akitoki case."

". . . Akitoki?"

"You probably know him just as Hojo, Akitoki is the guy's first name."

"Oh. . . Akitoki. . . I've never really met him."

Guy nodded, "Me neither. Sure, I've met him a couple times but nothing really beyond casual greetings."

"To think we claim to know so much about Kagome, but we never got to know her ex-fiancé."

"Considering the situation maybe it was better that you didn't."

"Maybe."

Silence fell upon them as they both contemplated over the recent death. After a moment Guy spoke up, "We can't really help it, but we can find the piece of shit that was behind it." Tossing the file that he had carried along with him Guy continued as Inuyasha expertly caught it. "That's the file on the case. Everything that the department found out is in there. When the case got called I wasn't in the station so the field officers were there to take record of the scene. I didn't see anything first hand, which was a disadvantage."

"I was there. . . well, not when Hojo got killed, but I was the one with Kagome when she found the body."

Nodding he learned back, "I figured you were. They said it was a Touken brother, and I doubt Kagome is that tightly knit with Seshoumaru."

Flipping through the file Inuyasha raised an eyebrow and looked up at the lounging Tiger demon, "There's something wrong with these pictures."

His attention immediately grabbed, Guy sat up, "What do you mean? The field officers assured me that nothing was tampered with before they got there."

"I'm sure your flunkey officers followed protocol and all that crap but these pictures are weird." Suddenly he was rummaging through the top drawer of his desk, "Here, hold on. I have just the thing to settle this."

"A time machine?"

"You give being a moron a new meaning."

"I was kidding."

"And I'm the Queen's dead mother." Pulling out the envelope that the delivery boy brought in the other day Inuyasha tossed that to Guy in the same manner he was thrown the file. "After Kagome fainted I took pictures of the crime scene. From past experiences I know that a dead demon carcass can dissolve into acid."

"So you think that the demon you killed melted away some of the evidence?" Guy ripped open the still unopened envelope.

"Not melted away, but the scene was tampered with."

Laying the pictures out on the desk Guy gestured for Inuyasha to come around the desk. "So what's wrong with the department pictures."

With the dozen pictures from the police and the six pictures that Inuyasha took with Kagome's disposable camera, they lined them up to see the difference.

"I really don't see a difference Inuyasha. Look, there's that scorpian lizard demon thing you killed. There's Hojo's decapitated head on the wall and the writing on the wall is the same."

After a moment Inuyasha pointed with a clawed finger toward the police department's close up of Hojo head. "There."

Taking a closer look at the picture Guy questioned, "What am I looking at exactly."

Inuyasha shook his head, "For a cop you're a bit slow in the head. Look at his neck. The mole on the right side of the neck."

The police academy trained mind of Guy clicked immediately and he grabbed the picture Inuyasha had been pointing to and one of the pictures Inuyasha had taken. "The body we sent to the coroner. . . it wasn't Hojo. The Hojo in your pictures doesn't have a mole. But we had his parents come in and identify the body."

"That can easily be done with a concealing spell. Except they were sloppy and only did it with the face and hair."

"Why the hell would someone take a human body?"

"Resurrection."

Eyes widened Guy stared, "Resurrection? That's not possible."

"Believe me, it's possible."

"But the soul. . . they say that the soul leaves the body immediately, and goes on to wherever souls go."

Remembering the resurrection of Kikyou, Inuyasha leaned on the desk. "Bodies can come back, not exactly like zombies but not that far from it. They come back with memories of what the body went through in life, their last memories being the strongest. But it's a creature without a soul."

"But why would someone go out of their way to kill a human, then bring them back?"

"If they have a necromancer on their team they've got their bases covered."

"A necromancer. . . someone that can control the dead."

"And probably a demon. I met one before, and a pain in the ass she was."

"If they plan to resurrect Hojo."

Inuyasha nodded, "They're probably going to use him to get to Kagome."

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"We have an accessible roof?"

Kagome looked over the edge of the Touken Bank Corporation Headquarters in the heart of the financial district in Tokyo. Leaning over the railing she teetered over it. If anyone else had come up with her to the roof they would have died from a heart attack at the way she precariously balanced herself. She quickly pulled herself back to level footing when she felt someone approaching from behind her. Swinging around with a surprising amount of force, she gave a jab with her right arm. Her arm easily blocked and grasped, her gaze followed the arm to the head to find out the owner of the arm. Her gray-blue eyes met with piercing ice blue ones.

"Kouga-kun?"

"What are you doing up here Kagome?"

Shrugging she smiled, "I guess catching my breath."

Letting go of her hand he walked over to the railing to sit on it with the ledge of the building to his back.

"That's impressive balance."

Kouga smirked, "It's a youkai thing."

"Huh." She walked over the railing next to him to lean her elbows on it as she looked at the stretched out scenery of the city. "It's like a forest of buildings."

"Yeah, but I miss the real thing. The trees and the smell of dirt." He let out a sigh of nostaligia, "It's the little things that you miss the most."

"I know what you mean. I recently got my memory of the feudal era back and its more or less clearing up completely. No more haziness for this girl. I just can't remember the little things like Shippou's favorite color or Kaede's favorite story she told the young children of the village. I wish I could remember it all."

"You could easily just ask them about that stuff you know."

"I guess I could. . . But it's like being part of an inside joke but forgetting why it was funny. You don't want someone to explain it to you when you were there."

He smiled down at her, "You're one complicated girl Kagome."

"That's me, Miss Complicates-people's-lives-a-lot."

He frowned at that, "You know that's not what I meant."

Nodding she smiled, "I know."

There was a silence between them. The wind rustled both their long hairs as they basked in the sunlight. "God, I love being outside."

Kagome nodded in agreement, "I didn't used to care, but since I got my memory back I've been itching to just stay outside. With the sudden memory gain it's as if I relived my feudal adventure in one huge spurt, and it all happened a couple days ago."

"So while we've lived through five centuries without seeing you, you feel as if you haven't seen us for less than a week?"

"Kind of. It's weird. Everything that happened seems so recent, but it also feels like it happened long ago too. Wait, that didn't make sense. How can I describe it? It's. . . well. . . It's kind of like a dream that you wake up from. You remember every detail of it, but the more you think about it after you had woken up the more you doubt what you remember, the more distant it feels."

"That has to suck."

She shrugged, "Oh well. It'll probably clear up completely and I'll live life joyously and happily with nothing to complain about."

"Good luck with that."

"Thanks." Kagome turned and stepped away from the railing to look at Kouga, "I have a question for you. Something that had been bugging me since the first time that I met you. . . but you don't have to answer it if you don't want to."

"Well, if the lady wants an answer I'm willing to provide one." He gave a cheesy and exaggerated bow from his perch on the railing.

"What happened to all the wolves of Japan?"

Hearing the question a sad smile adorned Kouga's face as he turned his head toward the sky. "You're wondering how they all go extinct in Japan right?" Letting out a sigh he continued, "God, I hated you for decades after the wolves died off in Japan."

She winced at that comment, "I thought you might. I'm so sorry. I would have told you about how wolves became extinct in Japan but I didn't want to change history more than it was already being changed because of me being the feudal era. Also, how do you break it to the prince of the wolf clan that the wolves aren't always going to roam the Japanese country side?"

"It took me a good seventy years to realize that. I hated you for so long. I kept on thinking 'They would all still be alive in Kagome had warned me. It's her fault.' But I came to terms with it. I understand why you didn't tell me, and I respect the fact that you did. Knowing you, you probably were itching to tell me every time you saw me. Maybe it was for the best."

"How did it happen? The history books say that it was the hunters that killed off the wolves. I can't believe that would be the only reason."

"It wasn't. There were so many factors. There were hunters, but that was only part of it. After the many that died during the whole journey to fight Naraku, there was a great war."

"A war?"

"Not of the human kind, but one of youkai. Wolf youkai and cat youkai went head to head. It was insane, so much blood was shed, and all over a stupid dispute about territory. After the war the territory was won by us, but it cost the lives of so many of us. Not too many were left after that, and the hunters finished them off. Only a couple of wolf youkai remain, and the worst part is that for every female wolf demon born there are nine males born. Our hopes of procreating back to a stable number are dwindling quickly."

"Do you ever plan on taking a female wolf demon for a bride?"

Kouga smirked, "I already have, three times. My first bride's name was Ayame and we were betrothed when she was young. We had seven pups. All of my children fought in the war against the cats, as did Ayame. Only Ayame, two pups, and I survived. After about a century I outlived Ayame and my two pups, although I did have many grandchildren. Fifties years after Ayame I met Maki, my second wife. She never became a mother because she died young of illness."

"Youkai get ill?"

"Certain diseases can do us in, and Maki fell victim to such a disease. A century and a half later I met Shiori. She gave me eight pups and we lived a long and happy life together. Again, I outlived her and my children. My decedent lines slowly died out or stopped due to the lack of females amongst our people. Two of the eleven Japanese wolf demons left are my great to the umpteenth power grandchildren."

"You had an entire life, actually more like three lives during the five centuries." She smiled up at him cheerfully, "You're not the same over-proud wolf prince I met."

"Not too different I hope."

"You're right. No matter how much you try to clean yourself up and put on a suit and tie, you're still Kouga-kun." She casually leaned against the railing and peeked up at Kouga shyly, "So. . . uh. . . has Inuyasha. . . you know. . . married?"

Letting out a loud laugh Kouga doubled over, "Not likely! My God, that guy has barely even looked at another woman after you left. From what I know he was celibate for all the years he waited for you."

Her eyes widened, "That's five hundred years. That's. . . unrealistic, you're lying."

Kouga shook his head, "To my knowledge he's been saving himself for you. And by the way, that is one mighty feat for a guy and for that long time." He walked toward the entrance back into the building and called over his shoulder, "Maybe you should give him a reward for his patience."

Blushing red Kagome yelled back, "Kouga-kun! God! Men are such perverts!"

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Playing with the straw in her ice tea , Sango waited for Kagome for the lunch date. Looking at her watch she noticed it was 11:40, ten minutes passed their promised time. Where is that girl?

The waiter came by another time asking if she was ready to order, again, she told him that she was waiting for someone.

Ten more minutes.

Sango sighed, there was only twenty minutes left until she had to be at her next gig. Kind of like how a doctor that was constantly on call, she was a taijiya on call. But now, instead of killing the youkai she went to control them. She was a sort of private eye/body guard/cop from the underground.

Two minutes.

She had to head out, rat terrorizing Shibuya don't control themselves you know.

A minute later

Standing up form her seat, Sango picked up her coat and made her way out of the modest restaurant. Stepping out she was suddenly plowed over by a young woman in her twenties racing into the restaurant.

The girl quickly got up and bowed over and over in apology, "I'm sorry! It's just my friend. . ." Finaly meeting eyes with Sango the girl, revealing herself to be Kagome, blushed. "Happens to be you."

Sango shook her head laughing, "You're late."

Kagome sported a blush as she cringed, "Sorry. I didn't realize my watch stopped. But I'm all yours until one o'clock."

"Sorry Kag but I've got to head off to do some control work. I guess we'll have to postpone our long overdue girlfest."

Kagome frowned at that but brightened quickly, "What don't I go with you!"

Sango shook her head vehemently, "No! No and no!"

"Why not? Come on! I won't get in your way. I've done this kind of stuff before you know. Two years in the Sengoku Jidai remember?"

"I don't doubt you have credentials Kagome, but a certain hanyou would kill me slowly if he finds out you went on a gig with me."

Kagome rolled her eyes and pushed Sango along down the street, "It's not like the guy owns me."

"He's a dog demon Kagome, protective and possessiveness are his second and third nature."

"Whatever, if he comes after you just send him to me. I got used to his yelling." Smiling up at the slightly taller girl Kagome tugged her toward the downtown Tokyo area.

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"Where is she?"

Mr. Williams looked up from his pile of papers to his boss, "Kagome-kun?"

Inuyasha made his way toward the desk, "Yeah, where is she? I. . . have something important to discuss with her."

Mr. Williams nodded as he looked back down at document in his hands, "She said she had a lunch date with an old female friend of hers." When he looked back up Inuyasha had already left.

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"I can't believe you're doing this in a skirt." Sango shook her head as she discreetly uncovered a manhole hidden away in an alley.

"You're right, it's insane. Being that I ran around in demon fighting wear when I traveled back in time. Sango, I think two years running around in my miniskirt school uniform gave me enough experience with skirt handling."

"Fine, careful on the way down." Sango deftly jumped down the manhole.

Kagome shrugged and climbed down the metal ladder built into the water main wall. Finding her footing she clicked on the flashlight Sango provided for her. "Are you sure it's a good idea I use a flashlight? I mean, wouldn't that give us away to the rat demons?"

Sango walked calmly along the edge of the water main with her own flashlight at hand, "We're not here on a search and destroy mission Kagome."

"We're not? What happened to the way we used to do things? Kill the troublemaker without mercy?"

Sango sighed, "Being that a lot of the youkai species are endangered, all measures are taken to try to avoid killing them. Let's just say that the youkai society sees it as a good thing to negociate with terrorists."

Rustling could be heard from a few tunnel turns down. Scraping of metal could be heard echoing down the tunnel along with the clanging of bottles. A few minutes later they were at the mouth of the tunnel where all the noise was coming from. Kagome completely convinced Sango was taking precaution in confronting these youkai was taken aback when the demon terminator marched right in without hesitation.

"S-sango!" But before Kagome could catch her, Sango stood before the a little over a dozen rat demons that seemed to have nested in the city water tunnel.

"I've been hearing about disturbances in Shibuya again, Yuuske. I told you guys not appear in front of civilians anymore."

A humanoid rat demons came forward to speak to Sango. Whiskers adorned his face along with rat like ears at the top of his head and a rat tail protruding from behind him. "Do you really expect us to sit around banished down here? We may be rat demons, but we're not about to stand for being stuck down in the sewer forever."

Sango sighed, "Don't be dramatic Yuuske. None of you are banished and it's a water main, not a sewer."

The Rat demon brushed Sango off as he sat back down on the beat-up couch they seemed to have dragged in from the junkyard. "That doesn't matter! We can't go up to the city!"

"You could if you would just master your concealing spells. Rodents are known for being fast learners! You and your pack just completely defy that rule!"

"The damn spell you showed us doesn't work! It stays up for half an hour then it just wears off!"

"You just need to practice at it. After a while the spell will last longer, days at a time even."

"So until then we're banished?"

Sango growled, "Stop using that word!"

"Uh. . ." The rat demons and the demon exterminator turned around to Kagome that had spoken up. "I have time until my very long lunch break is over. I can help train you guys in using a concealing spell."

"Really?" Yuuske seemed pleased as he gave Kagome a slow once over.

Sango stepped in, "No! Inuyasha's going to kill me already! I can't have you interacting with other demons without him around."

Yuuske put a halt to admiring Kagome when he heard the notoriously short-tempered dog demon's name. "Wait, the Inuyasha? The second in line to be the heir to the western lands? As in these lands!"

"That'd be him, so I recommend you back off from Kagome right now if you don't want your tail ripped off."

The rat demons nodded, "Yeah, uh. . . you won't be seeing us in the city until we have that concealing spell down. Nice seeing you Sango, Mrs. Touken."

With that Sango dragged a blushing Kagome out of the tunnel.

"Mrs. Touken? My God, now the people in the underground are going to think I'm married to Inuyasha."

Sango shrugged as they made their way back to manhole they came in from. "Might as well be. It's not like Inuyasha's letting you go anytime soon." She gestured for Kagome to climb up the ladder up to the alley. "Come on Mrs. Touken."

Kagome rolled her eyes as she climbed up, but abruptly stopped. "Oh shit."

"What's wrong Kagome?"

"My husband's here."

Sango's eyes widened, "Oh shit."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Where the hell did you get the fucking idea of joining Sango on a gig!"

Kagome sighed and leaned back on the couch that was in Inuyasha's office. Coming up from the manhole Kagome had met up with a ticked off Inuyasha that had followed her sent all over town to find her. Knowing he wouldn't just let this go, Kagome was able to get Sango to escape saying she had another gig. After yelling at the demon exterminator for a good few minutes Inuyasha dragged an annoyed Kagome back to his office all the way uptown.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed!"

"Don't be an ass Inuyasha. It wasn't that bad. We were taking care of a problem with rat demons. All we did was give them a stern warning!"

Inuyasha growled, "Did you know it was going to be that easy of a job?"

She avoided eye contact with him. "Well. . .no, but I've handled a lot worse in the feudal era."

"You were always with me."

"There were times. Distinct times, when you weren't there."

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, and who was it that came in the nick of time to save your ass?"

"Whatever." Kagome got up and headed for the door. "My lunch break is over, I don't have time for this."

As she pulled the door open a hand from behind slammed it shut. Whirled around by another clawed hand Kagome was now staring into molten gold eyes. "I know you think you can get away with anything with me Kagome, but get this straight." He gave her a menacing glare that would have had the strongest demon running for cover. "I will never tolerate you putting yourself in dangerous situations. If there ever is a time when there is even the slightest bit of possible danger, I will be with you."

She defiantly looked back at him, "I can take care of myself."

"I know you can, but I want to. So do me the favor of humoring me."

There was a long moment of continuous glaring on Kagome's part, then she let out a sigh and nodded. "Fine."

Inuyasha smiled and kissed her on the forehead, "That's my girl." Opening the door he ushered her out. "Now go do the job I'm paying you for. Oh, and don't forget we're heading down to the police station later."

Again she nodded and slipped around the corner out of his view.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Okay Kagome, I need you to tell the truth the best you can." Guy reached across the table in the interrogation room, turned testimony recording room, and pressed record on the tape player.

Kagome fidgeted in her seat. She was alone in the room with Guy, Inuyasha begrudgingly waiting outside due to regulation. Glancing over at the tape recorder that was steadily churning away rounds of magnetic tape she felt the silence of the room scream out at her. The walls, chairs, and table seemed to sweat in anticipation of what she was ready to spill. Losing her nerve Kagome reached over to push the stop button on the tape recorder.

Shaking her head she shouldered her purse and stood up. "I can't do this Guy."

Guy rolled his eyes and propped his legs up on the table. After Kagome doing this seven times since they entered the room Guy was getting tired. "Sit your ass down."

"But. . ."

"Sit down and telling the nice tape recorder what happened."

Kagome sat back down, "I don't see what the big deal is. I mean, I don't think Hizuki Matsuhito has done this to anyone else. All women I've met say he's a complete gentlemen. I testify, no one believes me and there would be a huge controversy And it's not just me anymore! I work for Inuyasha now, and the moment this gets out into the open the press is going to do some digging and find out Inuyasha and I are together. The press is going to have a field day with it! They'll accuse me of trying to bring down my lover's rival! If it was just me I might be blabbing about everything at this very moment, but now it involves Inuyasha! I can't do this!"

When Kagome got up to head toward the door Guy reached over and pulled her back down on the seat, "Don't be a moron Kagome."

Glaring at him angrily she tugged her arm out of his grasp but remained seated. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You know Inuyasha doesn't give jack shit about his bank if it means choosing between it and you."

Sighing Kagome nodded, "That's my problem exactly. If he found out why I was hesitating he would sell his company in a blink of an eye. He doesn't care enough about money to choose it over me, heck he would choose Myouga over it any day. So, if I don't watch out for him who will?"

"I can't believe this. . . so you're not going to testify right?"

She gave him a small smile, "Sorry."

Guy shook his head and picked up the tape recorder and gestured for her to stand up. "You're too good for him, you know that?"

"I think the root of the problem is that he's too good for me."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What do you mean her testimony won't effect anything?" Inuyasha yelled at the tiger youkai when they returned back to his office.

Guy sighed and gave a knowing look to Kagome but directed his attention back to the hanyou. "Look, I'm frustrated as much as you are but you have to take the system into account. Kagome can testify and the press catch wind of it and blow this up into the biggest story since O.J. Simpson trial, but she'll just be made a fool of. There isn't enough substantial evidence for a jury to believe her over Matsuhito, a man known as a respectful business man. I thought there was more to the sexual assault against Kagome, there is no physical evidence of anything ever happening. I'm sorry Inuyasha."

Inuyasha's grip on the chair went to a point where his claws crushed the wood of the armrest. "So I guess we're just going to have to wait till someone gets raped." The hanyou stood up and stormed out of the office leaving Guy and Kagome in his wake.

"You knew he would get pissed Kagome."

"I saw it coming. . . but it's better this way, right?"

Guy shrugged, "From your reasoning it might just be, but letting a sex offender go without even a citation just bothers me being a cop and all."

"Forget about him. Just do your job and look for the other perpetrators of the law."

"What if Matsuhito does this to some other girl in his office?"

Kagome shook her head as she headed toward the door, "I really doubt it. He kept on mentioning that I reminded him of an ex-girlfriend. . . a Sayuri something. I think it's the only reason why he kept on harassing me and not the busty blond from human resources."

Guy smiled, "So, I'll see you later on for questioning right?"

"Questioning?"

"Hojo's murder? You and Inuyasha were the first people to find him after he was killed. I'll see both of you for questioning."

"Should I come down to the station again?"

"Nah, I'll go bug you during a lunch break some time this week." He followed her to the door and gave her a hug, "Take care of yourself Kags."

She nodded and smiled. "Will do."

With that she opened the door and Guy leaned on the door as she left. "Hey Kagome?"

She turned around and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Watch your back okay?"

Nodding she turned back around looking for Inuyasha.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I can't believe that guy!"

Kagome shook her head as she was rummaging through the freezer for the ice cream that Inuyasha claimed was stored away in there. "You've been saying that since we left the station three hours ago."

Inuyasha growled, "But can you believe what he said! Isn't he your friend! Shouldn't he do everything possible to make your life better!"

She sighed, "Calm down Inuyasha. He did everything in his power, but Guy's right, there is no evidence of any harassment."

He slammed his hand down on the counter top rattling the spoons and bowls that Kagome had told him to take out. "So you're just letting the guy go!"

Scooping up ice cream into the bowls Kagome sighed, "Stop yelling. And yeah, maybe I am just letting Matsuhito off the hook but there is so much more to this than that. . . Anyways it's not like he won't be pinned with something else later on. Trust me, he's going to get pinned one day and I'll be there to laugh and point." She slid his bowl over to him and tossed him a spoon. "Don't stress yourself, you'll turn your hair white. . . er."

Giving her a deadpan look Inuyasha spooned up his share of the ice cream. "So, is the arrow shooting ceremony tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I have to call in sick and shoot the arrow."

"Are you going to use any old hamaya or do you have one set aside for your contact to the celestial world?"

"I'm using one of the sacred arrows from my family shrine. I already have the message tied to the hamaya that's ready to go."

"So when are we doing this? Morning? Afternoon?"

Kagome raised an eyebrow at him, "What are you talking about? 'We' are not doing anything. I'll be shooting an arrow in the clouds tomorrow midmorning while you're at work."

"Work? Yeah right. Did you actually think that I'll let you do this without me? Sure, Amaterasu might be your sister but something could happen. I'm not letting you do this alone."

"Letting me?" She stared at him incredulously, "You have got to be kidding me! I can purify your ass at the drop of a hat and you think you're letting me do something! Who are you try to be? Ricky Ricardo? I refuse to be your Lucy as you dictate my life."

"Riki Ricar- who? Look, I have no idea what you're talking about but this isn't anything about who dictates who! I'm trying to watch out for you and protect you! There is a possible necromancer out there that's trying to use Hojo's body to mess with you!"

Kagome stepped back wide-eyed. "W-what?"

Inuyasha sighed, "A necromancer. . . it's someone that has the ability to manipulate the dead. Remember Kagura? She's the best necromancer I have ever met, even after all these years. Well, it seems that one of these guys stole Hojo's body between us leaving and the Underground control team arriving. A simple disguise spell on someone else's corps and the police identified Hojo by his face."

She grabbed a hold of the counter trying to steady herself from the shocking news. "Y-you're lying."

Shaking his head he walked around the kitchen island to stand next Kagome, slightly leaning over her. "We're not sure Kagome. It's a theory that Guy and I came up with, but it's the most likely theory. Someone went out of their way to make us think that Hojo is dead. And no offence to him, but he was just an ordinary guy, nothing special enough for a demon to deliberately kill him and take his body. I'm not telling you this to depress the hell out of you Kagome, I'm telling you this so you watch out."

Bringing trembling hands up to her face she stared at her fingers, "O-oh God. . ." She fisted fingers in her hair as her entire body now trembled.

Inuyasha reached for her hands, trying to coax them away from her hair. Feeling his hands tugging at her wrists gently she glanced up at him. He gave a sad smile, "Kagome."

A tear slid down her left cheek, "It's my fault isn't it?"

He shook his head, "No, it's not your fault. To you, it may seem like it, but you've always had a bit of twisted logic." He smiled sadly down at her and pulled her into his arms. "There is someone out there trying to get you to break and I'm not going to allow it. And you sure as hell aren't going to allow it."

Nodding in his embrace, he heard as she sobbed a little bit harder, mourning for the loss of her friend. He held her and gave a small sigh of relief. He was secretly starting to get worried about her, although she had cried over Hojo right after his death, Kagome hadn't really mourned. She had quickly picked herself up and comported as if nothing had happened. He knew it was only a front, but he didn't push it because Inuyasha knew that she eventually would let herself go. And like always, he was there to catch her.

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A/N: For Hojo's full name I am using his ancestor's full name that came up in the Second Inuyasha Movie, being that we never find out Hojo's first name. I'm sorry for the short chapter but with the next event the chapter had to end there. I know, I know. . . LONG wait short chapter. Hopefully the next one won't take so long. Many IMPORTANT things will be revealed in the next chapter. I mean, Kag is going to contact the goddess of the Sun. . . things have to happen. More about the legend will be revealed and Kagome's fate after the second calling. Also, who the hell is Matsuhito! Where did Miss Imai find the patience to stand Inuyasha! What sick parents named a kid Guy! Who's after Kagome's life! This time! Is it even possible for Kagome, with only a B.A. in business management to be give such a high position! Celibacy for 500 years! Cameo of a dead Ayame! What is up with all the !s !

Till next time ppl.

Hey, review please. Tells me ppl out there still care. . . oh God, how pathetic am I?


	15. Eyes Wide Shut in the Garden of Eden

1Author Notes: Longest chapter to date ppl! Remember that really long chapter 'Five Centuries Later (chapter 3)'? Well I thought that was insanely long, but this chapter is twice that length. And I wish I had time to edit it but I really don't. I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow and I don't have time to go through the entire thing, I went through half but not the whole thing. I plan to edit it when I get back. Prepare yourself for this one and open up a nice window of time to read through the 54 pages this chapter makes up. I won't be updating for a month at the very least (although this did take a month and half to be written and posted) so I hope you'll be patient with me. Anyways, many things are revealed here and gets the ball rolling. I hope you enjoy the chappie! Please read and review!

Disclaimer: Inu and Kag don't belong to me, they belong to each other and a wealthy woman name Rumiko in Japan.

". . ." dialogue

'. . .' thoughts

**Eyes Wide Shut in the Garden of Eden**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

"What are you aiming for exactly?"

Kagome raised an annoyed eyebrow as she lowered her bow and arrow and glared at Inuyasha. "You really aren't helping."

Sitting on the ground in his extensive backyard Inuyasha pointed toward the hamaya. "I mean, does it really matter where you aim it?" Seeing the continuous glare he shrugged. "Hey, I'm not the one that had one eye closed to line up the shot."

Rolling her eyes she brought her bow back up and aimed for the sky. Pulling back as far as her strength and bow would let her she kept still for a moment. Then, she let the taut string go and hamaya went flying into the sky in a stream of blue light. "Wait. Blue?"

Leaping off the ground to stand next to her Inuyasha gazed at the blue hamaya. "Uh. . . not to get all technical on you or anything Kagome, but isn't it usually pink?"

Nodding she watched on as the hamaya disappeared into the clouds. "Do you think I should worry?"

He shrugged once again, "What's the worse that could happen?"

"Rain of molten lava?"

"You really know how to depress a guy."

"Just keeping things in perspective."

"Good to have you around."

Looking up at the clouds both waited for something to happen, or for the arrow to come shooting down. They stared up at the sky for a good five minutes until Inuyasha plopped down on the ground.

"Nothing is happening Kagome."

Sighing she sat down next to him on the grass. "I can't believe this was a complete flop. I was completely convinced this was a good idea."

"You do realize it was a very random idea, right?"

"It didn't seem too bad. . . they send a hamaya to contact us and we send a hamaya to contact them. It makes sense. . . sorta."

He laid back in the grass with his arms crossed behind his head. "So what do you want to do for the rest of the day?"

"Maybe I should go into work saying I'm feeling better now."

"You're not going to use your sick day to have fun?"

"What am I in high school? I take a sick day when I need it, not so I can go gallivanting through the city."

Letting out an exasperated breath, Inuyasha closed his eyes. "You sound like an old woman. Gallivanting! Who the hell uses that word?"

She poked him with the end of the bow, "Me, so get off my back." She turned and looked up at the clouds.

Opening his eyes he glanced at Kagome then closed them once again. "If you're waiting for a call back from the gods, you're in for a long wait."

"Fine, I don't get a response but where the hell did my arrow go?"

"Does it really matter?"

"What goes up must come down, right? So when is it coming down?"

Sitting up he sighed, "Well the rate in which the arrow reached its peak height is the rate it will come down right? Also, take into account the force of gravity and the properties of free falling."

Her eyes widened in disbelief, "When did you take a physics class?"

"Never did. But While I was in China I met up with a guy named Newton."

"You met Sir Isaac Newton? In China? When were you in China? More importantly when was Newton in China?"

"Apparently when I was there a few centuries back. He wasn't living there, he was on vacation. He went to one of the martial arts schools I was training at and helping repair. He wanted to know how body motion was effected by the three theories he had. He went on and on about his science, and that's pretty much how I learned English and physics."

Kagome smiled, "These kinds of things only happen to you."

"It's not completely exclusive."

"Yeah, but you're the only one that's not that phased by it."

"See how well grounded I am?"

"Good to see-" With a sudden shove and roll Kagome went tumbling on the grass with Inuyasha embracing her and on top of her. Blinking rapidly and blush furiously Kagome stuttered, "C-can I help you Inuyasha?"

Giving her one of his famous smirks he said, "Calm down girl. I'm not about to ravage you in my backyard in broad day light." Easing off her and flipping over he gestured toward the sacred arrow that embedded itself where Kagome had just been sitting.

"Y-you saved my life. . . again."

He shrugged and reached for the still slightly glowing hamaya, "It's what I do." When his clawed fingers touched the arrow they were instantly scorched and he quickly pulled his hand back. "Crap!"

She was immediately at his side taking the offended hand within hers for observation. "I'm sorry."

He gave her a confused look, "What you apologizing for? Not your fault."

"My arrow, kinda my fault." She looked up at him apologetically, "You're lucky you're a hanyou, it's already healing."

"Yeah, but being a hanyou is the reason why your arrow burned me."

"I'm seriously going to end up killing you one day aren't I?"

He smiled, "I'd like to think you'll be avoiding that for a while."

"I'll try my best." She glanced over to the arrow that was embedded into the ground, and her eyes widened in realization. "Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?" He distractedly answered as he examined his injury.

"That's not my arrow." The hanyou whipped his head toward Kagome as she had grabbed the arrow and pulled it out of the ground. "There's no message tied to it though."

"It could just be a stray arrow that was flying around. . . in the twenty-first century. Okay, not the most common thing but not the most unusual."

Kagome shook her head, "No, this has the same design as the hamaya your brother gave me."

"So you actually got a message from the gods?"

"No, I got an arrow without a message. A message would be helpful."

"So what do you think it means?"

"Shoot it back at them in spite?"

He shrugged, "If you really want to."

"There is nothing special about this arrow that sets it apart from the other one." She notched the arrow and tried to aim at the sky but for some reason the arrow would not allow itself to be aimed toward the sky.

Seeing that she wasn't raising the arrow Inuyasha wondered, "What are you doing?"

Trying even harder to raise the arrow her arms began to strain as if there was an invisible barrier that was keeping the arrow from pointing up.

"Need some help there Kagome?"

"I-I can't aim it." With a final effort she surged her arms up but had to suddenly let go of the bow and arrow, in fear that her shoulder was ready to be dislocated.

"Don't force yourself. If the arrow won't aim up then maybe the gods made it that way."

Kagome nodded and rubbed her left shoulder that had been strained the most out of the two. As she was distracted with her arm Inuyasha cautiously reached for the arrow, which despite the lapse in time, still held a faint glow. Holding the arrow within his grasp his hand began to sizzle. It seems that although he meant no threat the sacred power of the arrow would not allow him to hold it. Annoyed that even though he had been fighting the good fight for over five hundred and fifty years the pure powers of good would still harm him, he gripped the arrow. Glancing over at Inuyasha, Kagome finally noticed what he was doing.

"No!" She tried pulling the arrow out of his grip but he refused to let go. "What the hell do think you're doing! And give me the arrow!"

He tugged the arrow away from her grasp and growled, "Sit your ass down. Your arms are probably already going to be sore for a week."

"But can pick up that arrow without pointing it upward just fine. Your hand is burning for God sakes!"

"Will you get-" Suddenly the burning stopped. The glow of the arrow was now pink instead of blue, and soothed the hanyou's burnt hand. With Kagome still trying to reach for the arrow out of the hand Inuyasha adorned a confused look. When he noticed that the miko was practically climbing over him to get the arrow he tried to get her attention. "It doesn't burn."

She huffed and reached for the arrow again, "Don't be so macho! When it hurts, it hurts!"

Rolling his eyes he gave a shove toward her and she went tumbling to the grass. "Will you listen woman! The arrow doesn't burn when I point it up!"

Mumbling from her stumbled position on the ground, that last bit caught her attention and looked over to Inuyasha that held the arrow pointing toward the sky. "What it the. . ."

"My thought exactly. You can't aim it toward the sky, I can't hold it if it points away from it. . . If that's not a smack upside the head from the gods I don't know what is."

"A smack upside the what? What are you talking about?"

He stared at her with a deadpan look, "You have to be kidding me. It means, Kagome, that you're not supposed to shoot the arrow into the sky. I am."

"You? Do you even know how to shoot an arrow?"

"I knew my way around a bow long before I met you woman."

Rolling her eyes she picked up the bow and threw it at Inuyasha who caught it without a problem. "Whatever."

Notching the arrow he pulled back with apparent skill and aimed toward the heavens. "If an angry goddess comes after me, I'm blaming it on you." With that he let the arrow fly with surprising speed.

Kagome stood next to him and looked upward. "I didn't know you had some mad skills with my weapon of choice."

He shrugged, "I know how to use mostly any weapon ever forged, I just like my Tetsusaiga better. Never really found anything stronger than the bakuryuha."

"How about the atomic bomb?"

"Besides that."

"I'm just surprised because I've never seen you use anything besides your sword and fists."

"That's because he is a barbaric idiot."

During their conversation Kagome and Inuyasha had looked away from the sky, but with the sudden voice that came down from above them they both whipped their heads up. There, floating in the sky was a woman of ethereal beauty. Wearing a kimono in the style that was worn by wealthy feudal era princesses the woman gently glided down toward the grass and stopping six inches before actually touching the ground. Gold embroider adorned her kimono with a sash and hair ornaments. Her hair was a sun kissed golden blonde and her gaze was similar to the fiery amber eyes of Inuyasha.

Kagome's eyes widened, "A-amaterasu-sama?"

The goddess of the sun nodded. Kagome quickly kneeled before the goddess and tried tugging Inuyasha down but he would not budge from his standing position. Amaterasu let out a gentle laugh that seemed to echo around them like silver bells. "Stand Kagome, there is no need to be submissive in front of me. I am your sister after all."

Standing up she drew a shuddered breath, "Then it's true. I-I'm a goddess." Tears streamed down Kagome's face, tears that seemed to have been triggered by the already suspected knowledge. Wiping her eyes of tears she let out a desperate laugh, "I'm sorry. I-I shouldn't be crying. . . I'm a goddess, some girls would kill to be able to say the same." Letting out a half sob half laugh she shrugged, "I should be ecstatic."

Seeing the love of his life crumbling before him, Inuyasha held her in a comforting embrace. "Shh. It's okay. No big deal, we've dealt with worse." He kissed her crown and rested his cheek upon it, "We're star-crossed lovers, wouldn't make sense if things got too easy."

"I know what you both speak of and I understand your worries. The myth that a goddess nor god cannot mate with a mortal is true, we can only mate within the celestial society. But it seems that only Kagome's godly status was revealed."

Kagome raised her head, "What do you mean?"

Crouching down to be at eye level with Kagome, Amaterasu cradled the miko's right cheek in her hand. Kagome felt the breezy touch of the goddess and felt herself calming down. Amaterasu let a soft smile grace her entrancing features. "You are not my sister Kagome."

"But all the legend say that Wakahirume. . . I was your beloved sister. The sister you grieved for so deeply that you hid in a cave behind a boulder bringing darkness upon the world."

"I do love you Kagome. So much that it pained me when you died. You were like a little sister to me, but we do not share the blood that you think we do. However, you, Wakahirume became the closest thing one can become to a sister." She glided the hand that was on Kagome's cheek to stroke her hair. Amaterasu sighed. "You are my sister-in-law."

Kagome's teary eyes widened, "Sister-in-law?" Quickly turning to look at Inuyasha she whispered, "I was married?"

Inuyasha shook his head, "No. I can't believe that. I won't believe it! We're soul mates."

Kagome hugged him, "This doesn't change that. No matter who I was married to in a past life. I still love you and we're meant to be together."

Amaterasu let out an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes, "My goodness! You two give pessimism a new name! Both of you accept the worst in every possible situation! No wonder you two think you can't be together!"

"What the hell are you talking about now?" Inuyasha growled.

"Do you even know how you became soul mates?"

Kagome looked up at the goddess, "How? There is a 'how?' Don't soul mates just happen?"

Amaterasu smiled, "Now they do. Everyone is born on this earth with a soul mate there for them to find. This whole obsession about soul mates is something new. . . well, relatively new. This concept wasn't around from the beginning of time like everyone thinks. Sorry to put the responsibility on you two, but as corny as it sounds you two started the whole idea of the soul mate."

The hanyou scrunched his eyebrows, "You have got to be kidding me."

"I kid you not. And I have one piece of fact that's going to make you the happiest creature in the world Inuyasha."

"A year's supply of car wax?"

Amaterasu scowled, "Could you be any more moronic? You really haven't changed have you? If you couldn't figure it out yet Inuyasha, you're my brother."

"You brother? Then that means. . ." A grin slowly spread across his face as he looked down at Kagome.

"You two are very slow on the uptake. Yes, you two were married. But-"

Inuyasha growled, "No 'buts'! I don't need any of those."

"Inuyasha." Kagome tugged on his shirt.

"No Kagome, I'm not hearing her out on any form of 'but.' There are way too many catches that I've had to deal with."

"Will you just listen? It's not a catch, I'm just telling you your story."

Kagome nodded, "I was wondering about that. There is no record of Wakahirume getting married, and much less to Susanowo. From what I know, Susanowo killed her. . . er, me. . . whatever."

"I guess instead of answering all your questions I should just tell you everything that happened. It all started so long ago and so innocently. . ."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Story Mode XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Tsukiyomi!"

The young god that had been lying about in the celestial gardens raised his head from his position on the grass to look toward his young brother. His brother, Susanowo, was the god of the winds, storms, oceans, and snakes. Susanowo had jet black hair, that if loose, would extend beyond his feet and pool on the floor. Dressed in rich robes of silk the young god ran toward his older brother.

"Tsukiyomi!"

Sitting up he nodded toward Susanowo, "What do you want this time brother?"

Skidding into the lush grass Susanowo smirked, "I just met the love of my life."

Tsukiyomi raised a good-natured eyebrow and laughed, "The love your life? Really now? Then where is she? If I had met the love of my life I wouldn't let her out of my sight."

"She's with Amaterasu. Apparently she is sister's new handmaiden."

"New handmaiden? Where is she from?"

Susanowo shrugged, "Not sure, but I heard rumors that she came from up river."

"From the northern lands?"

"Yeah, but that's beside the point. Brother, she is gorgeous."

"Gorgeous? That's it?" Tsukiyomi rolled his eyes and lied back in the grass.

Susanowo shoved his brother, "What do you 'that's it'?"

"Look, we live amongst gods. We are gods. All of us are 'gorgeous.' I don't see what's so special about this girl if she's just good-looking."

Susanowo growled and lied down as well, "You don't know what you're talking about, you haven't seen this girl."

Letting out a yawn Tsukiyomi closed his eyes, "Whatever."

Months passed and Susanowo continued to mention Amaterasu's newest handmaiden that he had fallen head over heals for. Tsukiyomi continued to answer with sarcasm but allowed his brother to continue describing his supposed girl of his dreams.

". . . and yesterday I saw her in the fields with sister. She glanced over in my direction and smiled. Oh! And what a glorious smile it was!" Susanowo, despite his obsession over the handmaiden had actually never spoken to her nor knew her name.

Tsukiyomi shook his head as he and his brother walked through the celestial gardens at night. "Love has made you a fool Susanowo. You barely even know this girl. Actually, you don't know her at all."

Susanowo shrugged, "I don't need to know her when there is such a thing as love at first sight."

"You're being delusional, but I'll support you. Now, go home to sleep. There is no need for you to be wandering about at this time of day."

The younger god nodded and waved as he left. Tsukiyomi sighed as he continued to wander the gardens. It had been only a week or so since he was forever obligated to be awake through the entire night. His sister Amaterasu had sent him to negotiate with the goddess of the feast. The goddess ended up making him dinner. . . from her nose and mouth. Body part dining was not what he expected and being completely insulted had banished the goddess. Looking back on it, maybe it wasn't the best idea. Amaterasu, upset that her brother did such a thing to her best friend, cried and wished to never see him ever again. And so, the gods decided the best way to go about this would be to make Tsukiyomi the god of the moon. With this solution in place Amaterasu, goddess of the sun, and Tsukiyomi, the new god of the moon, would never meet.

Tsukiyomi yawned and stretched his arms above his head. Forced to wander the nights was not his idea of a good time. The only one awake beside himself was Baku, but he really wasn't a god. Baku was a simple good spirit that went about to the slumbering masses and ate their bad dreams. It didn't really matter that he wasn't a god, but he was too busy to be keeping Tsukiyomi company during the long sleepless nights.

In the dead of the night he heard rustling of leaves then a snap of a twig. Whipping his head toward the direction of the sound he stood still and concentrated. The wind curled around him and the line of trees that was a good twenty meters to his left. Then another rustle of leaves and a quick snap of a twig, Tsukiyomi went running toward the sound.

Okay, so he was desperate. He didn't care if it was an animal for all he cared. As long as there was someone or something else awake along with him, something that should be awake at this time. Slipping in through the trees, he dodged branches and made his way toward where the sound seemed to have originated from. There was another rustle of leaves from the same direction, but this time there was rapid succession of snapping of twigs. Then the sound stopped and silence fell again. Tsukiyomi kept running nonetheless in the direction of the noise and broke through the forest of trees. The air opened up to him and the howling silence of the trees met up with the tranquil clearing completely surrounded by trees from all sides. Grass stood up to his waist as the wind made it move about in waves like in an ocean. To Tsukiyomi's disappointment, there was no one there. The clearing was abandoned and void of life besides the vegetation.

He let out a sad chuckle, "I knew it was too good to be true."

"What's too good to be true?" A soft feminine voice came streaming from the middle of the clearing.

Stunned he whirled around, "Where are you!"

Suddenly a head popped up from the tall grass and turned toward him. "Here."

"A head!"

The head shook her head, "My goodness you're a moron." Standing up she faced toward him smiling.

Tsukiyomi was taken aback by the beauty of this woman. Her long hair was mesmerizing intense black that seemed to have an indigo luster to it. Eyes that were locked with his were a fiery golden-red. Despite the darkness, her skin seemed to glow with a sun kissed shine. She could have sworn that with her beauty she would have to be a goddess, but her garbs indicated that she was a spirit.

"You're a spirit?"

"And you're a god."

"What are you the spirit of?"

Making her way toward him she laughed, "A lady does not disclose such things."

He raised an eyebrow, "Are you serious?"

"Not really. So, what are you the god of?"

"Hey! I asked the question first! And besides, I'm a god. I have a hierarchy, you should treat me with more respect."

She rolled her eyes, "That's very mature of you. . . Fine, I'm the spirit."

"The spirit?" Then it suddenly donned on him, "The spirit! But, I thought it was he."

Shrugging she smiled, "I guess you were wrong."

"The spirit of Japan?. . . Wait, your name is Yamato?"

She sighed, "I hate that name. Become the spirit of Japan and they want to give you a name, of course it had to be a male name."

He smirked, "You're a bit odd."

She started walking passed him toward the trees he had just come out of, "So I've been told."

Titling his head slightly he followed her, "Where are you going."

"Not sure."

"But you're leaving anyways?"

She glanced up toward the god that was a good head taller than her, "You can come along if you want."

He blushed, realizing that he had followed her well into the woods. And in all honesty, he didn't want to be left alone. He'd had enough of the nightly solitude, and this spirit seemed to be wandering alone too.

Convinced that he was doing her a favor as well he looked down at her, "So, what are you doing awake at night Yamato?"

She smiled and did a sudden twirl amongst the trees, baffling Tsukiyomi in trying to figure out how she was able to miss all the trees.

"I love the night!" She took in a deep breath, "It's so calming and quiet."

"Quiet? Should I leave or something?"

She grinned and hugged his right arm, "No, I like the company. Oh, and don't call me Yamato."

He blushed and looked away, "What do you want me to call you then? 'Spirit of Japan'?"

"Nah, that's too long. Call me by my birth name, Wakahirume."

Giving her a deadpan look he sighed, "That's pretty long too."

"Yeah, but it's better than the name that makes me seem gender confused or stating my job title."

"It's pretty though."

Letting go of his arm she walked ahead of him dodging low branches and weaving through the trees. "So, what's your name?"

Only a few steps behind her, he raised his eyebrows. "You haven't figured out who I am?"

Clearing the trees she looked back at him in confusion, "Should I have?"

"I don't know, but I thought it was blatantly obvious."

"I guess I'm out of the loop. So, are you going to tell me who you are?"

He grinned, "You know what? I'll leave that up to you to figure out."

And so the friendship started. The two would 'casually' meet up in the clearing and spend most of the night together as the walked through forest and celestial gardens. When the sun was ready to dawn they would say their friendly farewells and slip away before the day broke. Wakahirume never guessed for Tuskiyomi's name, but they got along as if they knew each other for ages.

"So what's it like?" Wakahirume questioned as she lie in the gardens looking up at the stars, two and a half months since their first meeting.

"What's what like?" Tsukiyomi said as he lied next to her.

"Being a god."

He rolled slightly to end up on his side facing her, "Why do you want to know that?"

"Is it everything it's cracked up to be?"

He shrugged with one shoulder, "I don't know. Never really thought about it. I was born a god, I don't know anything else."

"Do you think it's worth it though?"

"Worth what? I'm not really giving up anything."

She rolled to face him as well, "Mortality. Sure, gods can be killed and all that but they don't age. No fear of death. . . I mean, that's a good thing, but there is so much gods miss out on."

"Like what?"

"Life. Humans, mortals, they go through life trying to accomplish everything they want to accomplish because their time on earth isn't forever. They can't put things off for too long."

"So the gods aren't in a rush. What's the big deal?"

She sighed and rolled back to look up at the stars. "Maybe I'm wrong."

Resting himself on his elbows he partially sat up to look down at her, "What's with the sudden interest in the procrastination habit of the gods?"

"Gods never seem to be in a rush to fall in love. Actually, they seem to act as if it might come about one day, but if it didn't nothing would be lost."

"That's a problem?"

"No. . . yes. . . I don't know. But after this way of thinking and acting since the beginning of time, what do you think makes a god fall in love all of a sudden?"

"I don't know. . . maybe the right person comes along and everything falls into place." He smirked down at her, "So what's up with the random topic of conversation tonight."

"I. . ."

"Yeah?"

"I think there's god that's in love with me." It came out in a rushing breath as she blushed a bit in modesty.

Something within Tsukiyomi sparked. He wasn't sure what it was, but there was grinding feeling in his heart and he could have sworn that his blood began to boil at the mention of someone falling in love with Wakahirume.

Looking away from her and back at the stars he said snappily, "So who is it?"

"That's the thing. I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"I don't know who it is and I've never met him, but Iki-ryo told me that there's a god in love with me."

"Iki-ryo? The spirit of anger and envy? You know him?"

"He is another spirit."

"I've heard he's dangerous. . . that he can cause harm."

She shook her head, "More emotional harm than physical harm. Anyways, he told me about a god that's been getting jealous over me lately."

"Jealous of what?"

"About not having the courage to talk to me. . . he supposedly gets jealous every time any male has any contact with me."

He raised his eyebrow, "Isn't that his problem?"

"Yeah, and it's really creepy."

He laughed, "I can see why you would think that."

She punched him in the arm, "Hey! Don't laugh! How would you feel if you had a girl watching you from the shadows? I mean, it's ridiculous. He doesn't know me and loves me nonetheless?"

"Is this scaring you?"

Taking in a breath she sat up and looked toward patch of ever-blooming gardenias. "Should I be?"

He sat up along with her scrunched his eyebrows, "Do you think he'll actually do something?"

"I don't know. . . but what's to stop him? He's a god."

"That still doesn't give him the righ-"

"It does give him the right! It gives him all the right! It's like how you once said, the gods are higher up in the hierarchy."

He stared at her and realized the possible gravity of the situation. A protective instinct that he wasn't familiar with came over him. Going upon said instinct he pulled her into a comforting embrace. "I won't let anything happen to you."

Wakahirume smiled sadly pulled back slightly to look at him, "That's sweet, but you're only here at night. What happens during the day?"

Tsukiyomi frowned at the thought of something happening to her just because he wasn't there to protect her. What she said was true, if the god wanted to act upon his desires he could. Under the rules of Takamagahara, the world of the gods, Wakahirume would be forbidden to defy a god, no matter the circumstance. The only solution came to him, a measure he was willing to take but the question was if she was.

"Are you really that worried about this? And are you willing to do anything to protect yourself?"

She answered with a confused face, "As long as no one else got hurt, yes, I would protect my self. Isn't my fear and worry justified though?"

Taking in a breath, he gulped then spoke, "Promise your self to me."

Eyes widening she whispered, "W-what? Are you sure? That's not something people take lightly."

"I know, but if you're promised to another god no one can even try to approach you. I'm sorry if you love someone else, but if it's not a god it won't work. If you were promised to another spirit, or someone else along those lines, this god that's in love with you can easily override that promise."

She shook her head, "I can't do that to you. A promise is bound until death and a god being promised to someone that isn't a god is looked down upon."

He tilted her chin up and smiled, "I don't mind, heck, if I was to be promised to someone I can't think of anyone better."

"But. . ."

The more he thought about it, the more he warmed up to the idea. Was he love with her? He honestly didn't know, what the hell was love anyways? Either way, he knew he cared for her deeply and would protect her no matter the cost. Unlike her, he was willing to let others go into harm's way, as long as she was safe.

Seeing that she still doubted he questioned, "Are you in love with someone?"

Blushing she hesitantly shook her head. With her answer he grinned, "Then who better to fall in love with than me?"

"Fall in love with? That's not a requirement to be promised. And you're such a pompous ass thinking I'll just fall head over heels in love with you!"

He chuckled at her antics, "Being promised is forever, and from the way things are between us I think it was only a matter of time before you were in love with me."

Steaming with embarrassment but mostly with anger, she shoved him causing them to tumble a bit through the grass; laughing as he ended up on top of her as she continued to fume. Then suddenly, just as soon as their eyes locked, he leaned down pressed his lips to hers. Too surprised to react either way she just stared at him as he pulled back.

"Wakahirume?"

Blinking slowly she tilted her head to the side and blushed, "Tsukiyomi. . ."

Surprised he pushed off the ground and sat up, "Y-you know who I am?"

Shaking herself out of the trance she had found herself in she sat up along with him. "It wasn't hard to figure out. I realized an hour after I met you. The nocturne and lunar designs of your robes gave it away. . . and the fact that you could only appear at night. The only two that should be awake are Tsukiyomi and Baku. It left you, since I knew you were a god and I knew Baku personally."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Maybe I was waiting for the right moment?"

Out of his shocked state he reached over and pulled her toward him by encircling his arms around her waist. "And me kissing you was it?"

She huffed, "About that. Why did you do that? You have to give a girl a little bit more warning than that."

"Like this?" Again their lips met, and just as before, they quickly parted.

Reaching her hand up to stoke his cheek, she searched his blue-silver eyes. "Do you love me?"

Closing his eyes and leaning his face toward her hand he sighed. "I don't know."

"But you think you'll love me someday?"

"And that you'll love me in turn."

". . . I'm sorry. . . but I don't want to learn to love somebody just because I'm promised to them."

"Learn to love? No Wakahirume, it's not about learning to love each other. I don't know about you, but I'm already in the process of falling in love with you. After all these nights together and getting to know each other. . . I don't know how I've lived without you in my life all these years. When thinking about the future, I think of you. It angers me, scares me, and kills me thinking that you might want a future with someone else. . . but I'll let you have that if that will make you happy."

She threw herself onto him and wrapped her arms around him afraid to let go. "Even with all that you don't know if you love me or not?"

He smiled and returned the hug, "I've never been in love before."

She pulled back to stare into his eyes with her golden-red gaze, "I haven't either. . . but if what you just described is love, then maybe I'm in love too."

He laughed, "The knowledge of the world is around us, but the inhabitants of Takamagahara don't even know what love is."

She smiled, "I, Wakahirume, promise myself to you, Tsukiyomi, for the rest of my days. Only to be relinquished of this promise upon one of our deaths."

Nodding, he took off the lowest piercing on his left ear as she did the same. The earring that he now held within his fingers was a simple stud with a small sapphire-like gem, much like it's twin that still adorned his right ear. Wakahirume's earring was instead a small hoop earring with smaller ruby-like stones along the edge. Exchanging the jewelry and snapping the earrings into place they stared at each other for a long moment, unsure on how to react.

She took a deep breath, "That's it."

"Yeah."

"Part of my essence is in that earring I gave you, same as the one you gave me. . . we're bound forever."

"And no god will approach you with that on, the stud indicates that it belongs to a god. . . Well, specifically me because that is my signature stone."

She reached toward the new earring and stared at her own that rested on his ear now. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"The hoop earring. . . it's a sign of a spirit. All the gods will know."

"That's what you're worried about? I told you, I don't care! Let them stare and criticize. You'll be safe and you're mine forever."

"Yours?"

"Yeah, yeah, don't objectify women." He pulled her to him once again and smirked, "But if not mine who's are you?"

Shaking her head she let out a exaggerated sigh, "Then I guess you're mine. . . my goodness, what on earth did I get myself into?"

"Maybe the best thing to ever happen in our lives." With that he gave her a searing kiss.

The next morning when the sun was out and Tsukiyomi fast asleep, Wakahirume was walking through the gardens with her close friend. Unlike most mornings there was a silence between the two, yet to exchange any words. Wakahirume fidgeted under the kind gaze of her friend, knowing that she was waiting for her to speak. Wakahirume sighed and looked toward her lady, "May I speak freely Amaterasu-sama?"

The goddess of the sun, and the older sister of Tsukiyomi, smiled and nodded. "I tell you every time that you need not ask. Wakahirume, I grant you permanent permission to speak freely with me, as I have done everyday since meeting you."

The young spirit nodded and gestured toward the stone bench that they came upon. Both seated, she turned toward the goddess and bowed her head. "I am deeply sorry for disloyalty. I should not have promised myself to another god when I was promised to serve under your ladyship."

Amaterasu let out an exasperated breath, "My goodness Wakahirume! I have told you time and again that you do not serve under me, nor are you the handmaiden everyone thinks you are. You are my best friend Wakahirume and there is no obligation you must fulfill to be in my company."

"But you are the goddess of the sun, the most important of all Takamagahara."

The goddess tilted her friends face upward to look at her, "And you are the spirit of Japan, equally deserving in respect. Now, I want you to forget about the silly hierarchy, and speak to me about you promising yourself to my brother."

Wakahirume blushed, "How do you know it is your brother?"

Amaterasu pointed to the blue earring that the spirit now adorned, "That is my brother's stone."

"It happened so suddenly. . ."

"Why don't you tell me how you met my brother? He's only awake at night."

She nodded, "Well, I am awake all day long."

The goddess' eyes widened, "You do not sleep?"

"I am the spirit of Japan, I can never be asleep. Although the citizens maybe asleep, there are animals and nature to tend to."

"You're a busier woman than I am, but how do you tend to your duties?"

"Obviously no one has explained the mechanism of spirits to you."

"Are you not like gods? Represent whatever you are assigned to and intervene from time to time?"

Wakahirume shook her head, "No, a bit more complicated than that. . . Let me put it this way. When you are changing in the mornings do you think of other things? About what you might do during the day or what people you will meet?"

"Yes."

"Well, instead of planning to do other things I am capable of tending to things with my mind. Multiply the thoughts you have in one second during your mornings by infinity and you have a slight understanding of what a spirit must do."

Amaterasu smiled, "I never realized a spirit had so much to do."

"Comes with the territory."

"Now, again, my brother."

"He happened upon me one night while I was laying in the grass. After that we would meet every night and talk until the day threatened to come. He would go away to sleep and I would continue on my day."

"And you fell in love?"

Wakahirume froze at that. Did she fall in love? Yesterday, both of them talked about how neither were sure if they were in love. But could she tell Amaterasu about the god that seemed to be stalking her? Would she understand? She was her best friend. . . but might try to separate her and Tsukiyomi if she found out it was for convenience. Convenience. . . but a good part of her was happy that she was promised to her nocturnal friend.

"Yeah, it was sudden for us. He asked me to promise myself to him and here I am with his earring."

"A god and a spirit. . . do you know what this means? Does he?"

"Yes. . . well, I think he does. I tried telling him but he didn't care."

Amaterasu smiled at that, "That sounds like my brother alright. He never cared what others thought of him."

"Should I tell him to-"

"Don't worry about him. No insult can penetrate that thick skull of his, everything just rolls off of him. . . or bounces off. . . I'm not sure which, maybe both."

She smiled at that, "You always know what to say."

"That's what I'm here for."

Later that day when the sun set and the world was cloaked in darkness Tsukiyomi awoke to start his night. Sitting up in bed in his temple he stretched his arms out then scratched his head. Swinging his legs over the side he walked over the basin of water. He blindly washed his face and toweled it dry. Looking up, something caught his eye in the mirror and noticed that it was a small red hoop earring.

"What in the?. . . Oh yeah. . . Wakahirume." A slow smile crept across his face. "We're together forever now."

"Glad you didn't change your mind about that after you slept on it."

Surprised he turned toward Wakahirume that was standing in the doorway. "Wakahirume? What are you doing here?"

Giving a brilliant smile, she ran toward him and jumped into his arms as the surprised Tsukiyomi hugged her back. "Well I thought I should check out my husband's home. . . and well, my new home."

Pulling himself back a bit he raised a confused eyebrow, "Husband? Home?"

"I know, I know. 'Husband' is a human term but that's as close a word as I could think of. Also, about calling this home. Since I'm a spirit and without a home I just figured. . . Should I have not figured?"

Seeing that the light in her eyes dimmed a bit thinking that he wouldn't wanted her there, he shook his head and kissed her on the forehead. "Figure away."

The smile returned to her face, "So, husband. Where's my room?"

He chuckled, "Well wife, I thought we shared a room."

She shrugged and left him to go explore around the room. "Doesn't really matter to me. I mean, spirits don't need rooms. . . or homes for that matter."

"I've heard about that. Supposedly you guys just wander around." He walked behind her as she looked out the window. Hugging her from behind he whispered in her ear, "Wander no more."

The spirit blushed, "Don't you find this odd?"

"What?"

"Yesterday we were on friendship basis and now we're mates for life? That's a huge jump. And also, I know I initiated it with the over eager hug, but aren't we really touchy touchy for a couple that got together on grounds of protection?"

He stepped away from her slightly upset, "Well don't I feel used. . ."

She shook her head stepped back toward him and gazed into his eyes, "You know you're beyond that. If I wanted protection I could have just tried to seduce Bishamon."

"The god of war, justice and protector of the law?"

"What? You memorized his resume?"

Ignoring her smart aleck comment he continued, "You know him?"

"We run into each other a lot when it comes to war. People fight with the spirit of Japan and all."

"You would have seduced him?" He asked jealously.

She giggled, "Of course not, with you around who needs the god of war?"

Rolling his eyes he gestured toward the door. "So are you going to leave or am I going to have to change my clothes in front of you."

She laughed and bounded toward the bed and sat down. "Come on mate! Give me a show!"

Blushing he feigned an annoyed look and walk toward his wardrobe. "So I'm assuming I get to watch when you change?"

Wakahirume scrunched her forehead, "I don't feel comfortable with you watching. . . Oh, so you want me to leave don't you?"

Pulling out his usual hakama and gi, he glanced toward her. "If you don't mind."

"Fine." She hopped off the bed and exited out the door.

The rest of the night was spent as usual in the garden as they walked about. However, instead of the usual side-to-side walking, they held hands. It was just as Wakahirume said, odd thinking their relationship changed so quickly, but it also felt oddly comfortable. And so it went for good few weeks. They would continue the way they were before, but as Tsukiyomi had predicted, they were slowly falling in love.

One afternoon when the sun was setting and Tsukiyomi was stirring awake, Wakahirume watched him sleep. It was something she did from time to time and couldn't get over how peaceful he looked in his sleep. As he roused from a deep slumber she stroked his hair and whispered in his ear. "Tsukiyomi."

His eyes lids opened he slowly blinked away the sleep from them. Seeing Wakahirume sitting on the bed next to him, he gave a soft smile. "Good morning."

She smiled back and continued stroking his hair, "Good night Tsukiyomi."

He chuckled and pulled her down to lay next to him, "Yeah, good night. It's been months since I became the god of the moon but I still can't get used to that."

Snuggling into his chest she sighed, "My morning is when you wake up so it's also 'good morning' for me."

He smiled, bent his neck down for a kiss but her hand got in the way as she clasped it across his mouth. "Mmmphmm pm?"

She smiled, "Morning breath. Trust me, no man is worth suffering through those effects."

Removing her hand he sighed, "Fine, I'll go gargle."

She grinned in response but letting her guard down he sudden let out a deep hot breath in front of her face, "Eww! Oh god! That's worse than I expected!"

Laughing he leapt out of bed and out of her hitting range. After a moment she looked over to Tsukiyomi, who was now distracted with washing up, and her eyes saddened a bit. She worried that she would hate her after she told him what she had kept from him. In reality, it was nothing that major but Tsukiyomi was one that believed in complete loyalty and trust. It had been months since she first met him and yet he still did not know about her daily outings with Amaterasu. She understood that the two gods did not get along and that Tsukiyomi might feel betrayed that she was a good friend with a sister he hated so much.

Looking across the room he saw Tsukiyomi comically gagging out the water he had just been gargling. She smiled, he had never been one to hold a grudge anyways.

She blushed as she saw that Tsukiyomi was beginning to change in front of her. Over the past few weeks he had grown accustomed to her and did not seem to think twice of changing his clothes in her presence. They had yet to consummate their marriage, but they had gotten farther than their chaste kisses of before.

With his gi loosely tied he walked over to the bed and bent to be at eye level with her. He smirked then let out a deep breath like before, "Better?"

Still blushing she responded, "Much." With that Wakahirume wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a searing kiss. Surprised by her unexpected passion in the kiss he was taken aback for a moment but quickly returned it with full fervor. Long minutes later they broke away and she held him even tighter around the neck.

She was acting strange that morning, as if she was trying to say goodbyes with her actions. Attempting to pull back yet not allowed by her iron grip he whispered the question of her name in her ear. "Wakahirume?"

She gripped him tighter still if that was possible. This time, it was she that whispered into his ear yet hers was not a question but a statement. "I. . . I love you Tsukiyomi."

Pulling back, he searched her gaze for the meaning of the sudden confession. It was the first time either had spoken such words to each other. Still trying to register what she had said he was unable to give a response.

She began sitting up, forcing him to do the same. Gulping down the knot in her throat she took his hands and took in a deep breath. "There are some things I have to tell you. . . and after I say them I doubt that you will love me."

"Why would you-" Pressing her lips to his she silenced him, pulling away she gazed into his icy blue eyes. "Wakahirume."

"I wanted to kiss you just one more time."

"What are you talking about? Just one more time?"

She took in a deep breath. "There are some things I haven't told you." Seeing that she wasn't going to get interrupted, she began. "You know I don't sleep. It's just not something spirits do, or are capable of doing. So while I'm awake during the night with you, I'm awake during the day as well. And I was waiting for you to ask me how I spent my days, but you never asked."

"Should I have?"

"It's nothing horrible. . . I think."

"What is it?"

"Do you ever wonder why Japan is associated with the sun?"

A confused expression ran across his face, "It's believed to be the first land in the world to receive the sun in the day. . . but what does this have to do with anything?"

"Japan is knit so closely with the sun because I am."

"You are? You are what?"

"I'm closely associated with sun. I'm your sister's handmaiden. . . companion. . . well, she says best friend."

"Y-you're Amaterasu's handmaiden?"

"No. . . I'm not, but people think I am."

Eyes widened he sunk down even farther on the bed, "Oh god. The. . . the hell did I do?"

"I'm really sorry about not telling you."

"I can't believe this."

She scrunched her eyebrows. "Look, I know it might be a bit of a surprise but it's nothing that drastic. I know you don't get along with your sister but I was hoping you could see passed that. I thought me lying. . . holding the truth. . . would be what upset you."

"The god. . . that's in love with you. . ."

"What does he have to do with anything?"

". . . He's my brother."

In a shaky voice she questioned, "What?"

His eyes widened with a blank look, "Susanowo is in love with you."

"What? Wait. . . How do you know this? I don't even know who it is."

Getting up from his position on the bed he shook his head in denial but continued to explain, "He's been telling me about you for months. . . and I didn't make a connection, then again there really wasn't a connection to be made until now. . . he said it was love at first sight, that he fell in love with Amaterasu's handmaiden. . ."

She adamantly answered, "But I've never met him. I don't even know what he looks like!"

"He never got the nerve. . . I've been pushing him to talk to you for months now. . . What am I going to do?"

"What are you going to do? What do you mean by that?"

He stared at her with teary eyes and anger at the new situation at hand. "How can I be with you now!"

A hurt expression crossed her face. "You can't be serious. Before, you were willing to live out your life with me and now that you know it's your brother-"

"Exactly! He's my brother! I can't let a girl come between us!"

Her face calmed and her normally fiery golden-crimson eyes steeled over, "Fine. I get it, I understand. You're not going to let some ordinary girl get between the bonds of brotherhood."

"Hey, I didn't say it like that!"

"But it's what it comes down to."

He growled at her, "You're putting words in my mouth."

"But not implications." With that, she closed her eyes and dissolved away.

Fear coursing through him he ran toward where she had stood but there was no sign of her. "Wakahirume!"

Worry set in, as he was not sure what happened. Had she faded into nothing? Or was it a power she had? He assumed it was the latter, and became infuriated by that.

Her roared in anger, "Where the hell did you go Wakahirume? Get your ass back here!"

There was no response, nor an apparition of the spirit. "I'm not kidding Wakahirume! Come back!"

Growling he ran outside the temple with his gi still loosely tied. "Wakahirume!"

He ran about the grounds in a godly speed as he continued to roar out her name. Off the temple grounds and sprinting through the forest he searched for her. Dodging trees and still with no sign of Wakahirume he raced toward the gardens they usually walked through. The celestial garden was empty as he whipped his head around looking for his mate. "Wakahirume!"

Then something caught his eye. There on the bench that they had spent countless nights talking upon was a small object that caught the little light there was and sparkled. Slowly walking toward it, he realized what it was and dreaded seeing it up close. But there it was, his stud earring that he had given her all those weeks ago. This time, her name came out as a whisper. There was a reason why promising one's self was forever. Taking the exchanged piecing off to break off the promise meant a slow and painful death.

Why would she take it off? There was no need to end her life over something like this. He gripped the jewelry in his hand and solemnly swore to himself that he would find the foolish spirit. She was acting on the passion of the moment and definitely not thinking clearly. The girl was going to live, whether she liked it or not.

"Tsukiyomi!"

The call of his name made him whip his head in hopes of seeing Wakahirume but was disappointed when realizing it was male voice and that of his brother on top of that.

The laughing Susanowo ran up to him giving him a brotherly hug. "It's been a while brother!"

Tsukiyomi stepped away from Susanowo with widened eyes, "What are you doing here?"

Susanowo laughed, "I knew I could expect a cold greeting like that from you brother. I've returned from my journeys."

"You were on a journey?"

"Amaterasu told me to. Said that since I'm the god of the winds, storms, oceans, and oddly snakes. . . I should travel the lands to see what I'm dealing with. You and sister get the heavens and I get the land."

Tsukiyomi disbelievingly questioned, "How long have you been gone?"

Susanowo shrugged, "I don't know. . . two moons?"

A good two weeks before Wakahirume promised herself to him. Shaking his head he turned away from his brother to continue on his search for the spirit. "I have to go."

Grabbing his arm Susanowo halted his brother's movement, "What's the matter with you? I come back from a long journey and you act as if-" His words died in his throat as his brothers hair moved and revealed his left ear. There, on the ear where Tsukiyomi's second stud earring should be was a small red hoop earring. The exact earring that he had wished to adorn for months now, the one with the stone that held the essence of the love of his life. Gripping his brother's arm in a death grip fury engulfed him, "Why do you have that?"

Ripping his arm away from Susanowo's grip, Tsukiyomi covered his left ear.

"There is no need to hide it brother! I know to whom that earring belongs to! How the hell did you get that?"

Tsukiyomi sternly dismissed him. "I don't have time for this brother."

"You will make time!" Susanowo's face scrunched in anger and pain caused by betrayal. "You knew I loved her! I've told you about her since the day I met her!"

Angered as well Tsukiyomi whipped around to glare at his brother, "You've never met her! You were too afraid! Like a foolish boy you watched her from afar and claimed you fell in love! It was not love you felt Susanowo. It was basic attraction that grew into an unhealthy obsession."

Susanowo struck with his right fist connecting with his brother's cheek. "So you swept in to take her away from me."

Tsukiyomi turned to face his younger brother as he wiped the blood that was trickling down his mouth. "I did not take her away from you. She was never yours. I met her and grew to know her as a friend. I asked her to promise herself to me, and she did."

"You had no right to ask her!"

Something snapped within him and he yelled, "I had every right! I'm in love with her!" Tsukiyomi froze at his words. He was in love with her? He knew that one day he would fall; however, he had no idea that he would fall so hard and that it had happened so many months ago. With the new found realization he ignored his brother and was about to run in search of his love, when again his brother impended his actions. "I have to find her!"

"She is not yours to find!"

This time it was Tsukiyomi that struck Susanowo. "She is mine to find! At the moment she put herself in danger and I have to find her." Stepping up to the shorter god he glared down at him, "I will fight for her if I have to."

With that, Tsukiyomi raced off into the night. At the moment nothing mattered but saving the life of Wakahirume. Speeding through the lands of Takamagahara he frantically searched for her but with no results. At the foothills of the mountains he stopped at the river panting for breath and sweating bullets. In reality he could transport from one place to another like Wakahirume, but in all honesty, he had no idea where she was. Not wanting to skip over a single inch of Takamagahara, he used his godly speed to hunt the impulsive spirit down. Taking in a deep breath and taking a gulp of water from the river he set out again in his search.

Hours later he came upon the last place that had yet to be searched. The temple that rested in the farthest corner possible from his own: the temple of the sun. Looking up at the temple that was good deal larger than his own he took in deep breath. Normally he would turn his head and avoid walking up to the temple doors; however, this was not a moment to worry about pride. Climbing up the steps to reach the massive doors he incessantly banged on the door. Few short seconds later the door creaked open and he slipped in.

"Amaterasu!"

The annoyed goddess came before him, "What are you doing here brother? I told you not to come before me ever again. And further more, what will the people say if the moon suddenly disappears?"

He growled, "Let them think it's a lunar eclipse. I have a more important question. Where is she?"

Still rubbing the sleep from her eyes she gave him an even more annoyed look, "Where is who?"

"Wakahirume! I know that she is your friend. I have searched all the lands and haven't found her. She has to be here!"

Confusion filled her as she walked toward her brother, "Now, calm down. Tell me what happened." Even with all the differences they had between each other, when it came down to it they were still siblings.

"I messed everything up." He allowed his fist to open revealing the earring he found on the stone bench.

She gasped and shook her head in disbelief. "That's not. . . why would she do such a thing?"

"I think I may have implied that I would give up on us."

"Why would you do such a thing?"

"I found out that Susanowo is in love with her too."

"So?"

Tsukiyomi looked toward his sister in surprise. "What do you mean 'so'?"

She rolled her eyes, "Do you love her?"

"That's not even a question."

"From the way I see it you love her, she loves you and that's all that should count. Forget about everyone else, forget about Susanowo."

"I already told him I'm willing to fight for her."

She patted his back in the way she used to, much like the times when it was still just little brother and older sister. "Now, go find your girl."

"I've looked everywhere. If I don't find her soon. . ."

"She probably transported herself to place you had already searched. Now think, where would she go?"

He growled at her again, "The hell am I supposed to know?"

She sighed, "Where would you go to die?"

His eyes widened and he stood up without a farewell, then suddenly he faded away.

A tear trickled down her cheek. "Wakahirume. . . what have you done?"

Tsukiyomi whipped his head from side to side attempting to catch a glimpse of Wakahirume in the tall grass.

"Wakahirume!" He shifted through the grass in search of the spirit that had little time left. "Wakahirume!"

Suddenly a weak voice came from center of the field, exactly where she had met her the first time. "Ts-tsukiyomi?"

Rushing over to her he frantically called for her. "Wakahirume!" Coming upon her he pulled her into his arms. She had been lying there limply and weakly. "Why did you do this? We've fought before! Why did you have to do something so impulsive and stupid?"

She gave a pained smile, "You have no idea how much I've been regretting taking that thing off. It's been hell since I took it out."

"I'm just glad I found you in time." Taking the earring he put on her ear and he smiled whispered, "You're going to be okay."

Wakahirume's smile disappeared as she brought up her hand to stroke his cheek, "I thought you knew. . ."

"About what?"

She took in a difficult breath and coughed, a bit of blood coming out. "Spirits and gods don't work in the same way. . . The reason why people look down upon us being promised to one another. . . When a god tries to break off a promise, the feeling of near death is like a warning bell. . . But for a spirit. . . it's not a warning."

His eyes widened as they tears welled up in them. "That can't be true."

"We get one chance and one chance only. . . it doesn't happen when it's between two spirits. . . but when it's between a god and a spirit. . . the lesser being, me, must die for disobeying our superior."

"You knew all this?" He got a nod in response, "Why did you do it then? This was supposed to be forever! Forever isn't just a few weeks!"

She closed her eyes and tried to take in a deep breath but instead ended up coughing even more. "I always knew my spontaneous nature would be the end of me. . . but this was definitely not what I had in mind."

"Don't make jokes at a time like this!" Tsukiyomi yelled as he let a tear slip down his cheek.

"I wish I wasn't so foolish. . . I didn't want forever to be this short either."

He cradled her in his arms as her body got colder, "How am I supposed to live without you?"

"The same way you made it all those years without me."

"I don't even remember how I went though a day. . . I don't really remember a time without you."

She smiled in his hair, "We've only known each other for a few months. Months I wouldn't trade for the world."

"How can you just die? What about Japan? What will it do without its spirit."

"We're not like gods. . . when a god dies there is no one there to take its place. . . a spirit, however, is easily replaced. The moment I die another spirit will be born and be given my name, Yamato. Goodness, I hope it's a boy. I wouldn't want another girl having to live with that name."

"Where will you go? What happens to your soul?"

She sighed, "I'll be reborn. No one is ever sure what they will be reborn as."

He pulled back and locked eyes with her, "I'll find you. I'll search every minute of every night until I find you."

"You wouldn't recognize me."

He shook his head, "I'd find you even if I were blind."

She smiled, "What do you think I'll return as?"

He stroked her hair, "A beautiful crane: the symbol of Japan."

"A crane. . . I would very much like that."

"You'll live to be ten thousand years old, just like they say in the old saying."

"That's a thousand. The saying is 'tsuru wa sen nen, kame wa manen.'" (translation: a crane is for a thousand, a turtle for ten thousand)

He let out a pained chuckled as another tear trickled down, "Then you shall be a turtle."

Her eyes closed, she shook her head. "No, I want to be a crane. That way I can fly. . . I'd be closer to you. . ."

"This can't be it can it? There has to be a way of saving you."

"My actions have consequences, and I'll have live. . . die for them."

"How much longer do we have?"

"A minute? I feel myself fading. . ."

"That's not enough time. . . there is so much I need to say to you. So much I need for you to hear."

She tiredly opened her eyes and looked into his silver-blue eyes one last time, "Maybe you could say a few things you want me to hear."

"I don't know where to start."

"Maybe it's for the best." Wakahirume gave soft smile, "Tell me when you find me as a crane. . . I love you Tsukiyomi, please don't forget that."

Suddenly the life left out of her and her eyes became blank. Her body began to fade into nothingness and he became frantic. "No. No! You're not supposed to die yet! You're supposed to hear me say it first!" He embraced the disappearing lifeless body into his arms and let out a gut wrenching cry of pain. "You're supposed to hear me say that I love you Wakahirume! More than anything else in the world! I love you! Wakahirume!"

He collapsed onto the ground as her body faded away and he roared out in desperation to the rising sun and the coming day.

The sun risen, Tsukiyomi's nocturnal body was incapable of staying awake outside a temple. Slumbering, plagued by nightmares, is how Kukunochi found him. "Tsukiyomi?"

The tall god of trees scooped up the heartbroken god and hefted him over his shoulder. As he walked through the forest the trees parted for him until he reached the gardens, then it was quick walk toward the younger god's temple. Taking the god inside he set him on the bed and tried to shake him awake.

"Wake up Tsukiyomi." Kukunochi towered over him as he continued to coax the god to wake.

". . . Waka. . . hiru. . ." He struggled in bed as something plagued his dreams.

Worried the tree god violently shook him. "Tsukiyomi!"

Stunned awake he stood up and backed away from the older god. Eyes widened he checked his surrounding then saw that light was streaming in through the drapes. He looked toward the other god, "I-it's day. . . What happened brother?"

Kukunochi shrugged, "I don't know. I found you out in the clearing in the day light, you know you can't be out there for too long. What were you thinking?"

"I was outside. . . What was I. . . Wakahirume!" He grabbed the front of the other god's clothing and questioned with frightened eyes, "Where is she!"

Surprised Kukunochi smiled a bit, "The deity?"

With a confused face he shook his head, "Deity? No, you must be wrong. The Wakahirume I know is a spirit."

"The spirit Wakahirume? I'm sorry, I've never heard of her."

"No, she doesn't go by Wakahirume when it comes to her duties. I'm talking about Yamato."

"She was replaced just this morning. A new male spirit was born and he is now the spirit of Japan."

A tear escaped Tsukiyomi's eye that he quickly wiped away and he gave a struggled smiled toward the twice as tall Kukunochi. "A boy huh?"

"Yes. Everyone expected another girl but this time it was boy."

He nodded and looked away from his older brother, "I'm glad to hear it."

Seeing that his brother wished to be left alone, Kukunochi stood up, slouching to not bang his head on the ceiling. "I'll be leaving now brother, but if you need someone to talk to you know where to find me."

Tsukiyomi looked toward his brother, "Thanks."

With that the god left and Tsukiyomi was left alone to his thoughts of sorrow. He walked toward the window staring out into the sunlight. He sighed, he shouldn't be awake. Even within his temple his body was screaming at him to be asleep. Whoever heard of a moon that was awake during the day? It didn't really matter anymore. She was gone. What was the whole point of sleeping now? He used to sleep away the day so that time felt shorter until he could see her again, but now he had nothing to look forward to. Sleep was plagued with nightmares of Wakahirume fading from his arms. He would avoid sleep if he could.

As he stood there at the window dizziness came over him. There was a reason why he slept through the days. Unable to hold himself up any longer on his legs he grabbed onto the window drapes. Breathing hard he tried to maintain balance but his legs gave out and he collapsed onto the floor pulling the drapes along with him. While limp on the cold marble floor, his skin became clammy as the sheer drapes billowed onto of him. Eyes widened, he gasped for breath and grabbed his chest just above his heart.

The drapes out of the way, sunlight streamed into the temple with inhibition. Sunlight didn't affect him, but if he didn't fall asleep soon he would suffer more than just a tired body from a sleepless night. Judging by the sun it was noon, well past the time he should have been in dreamland.

Tsukiyomi closed his eyes in defeat and tried to keep his mind blank so that sleep could come over him. Slowly, he was able to slip into slumber and his body was at peace.

Hours later and the day over he roused from his sleep to find himself in bed. He also noticed that the drapes were still covering him. Struggling he tossed them away and was met with the complete darkness of the night. His eyes adjusted quickly and he could make out things in the room. That's when he noticed it, the figure that stood by the door.

Leaping out of bed deftly he crouched down in fighting stance facing off the figure in the corner. "Who the hell are you?"

The stranger did not answer and slowly approached him with surprising grace. Angered that the figure did not answer, he growled and charged at it. His punch was unexpectedly blocked and he was pulled into a fierce embrace.

Eyes widening he stilled, "The hell?"

He could feel the tears that were streaming down the dark figure's face. Whispered sobs were by his ear until he heard it, the voice he thought he would never be able to hear again. "I can't believe I get to hold you like this again."

He pulled back and disbelievingly questioned, "W-wakahirume?"

Nodding she smiled with tears still in her eyes, "It's me Tsukiyomi."

"How? What?" He grinned and picked her up and twirled her in the air, "God I don't care! You're here and that's all that matters." He pulled her down into a kiss that he thought they wouldn't be able to share.

She smiled into the kiss as she pulled him closer. Parting after a long while she leaned her forehead on his. "Thank your sister."

"My sister?"

"When you went to her before I died. . . faded away, she realized that I had little time left. Although she didn't know everything about spirits she did know one thing that once we attempt at breaking off from our promised mate we can never return. She sent you to be with me for my final moments, then she went to Takami-Musubi to ask for a favor."

"The primordial god of the sky? Sister actually had the galls to ask a favor from him?"

She nodded, "Yeah, and don't forget that he is also the creator of all living things. Anyways, he granted her the favor because they got a long or something along those lines. So when he felt my body fade and about to travel to the ether, the place where the souls go to before being reincarnated, and just as I entered into it he extracted me from the group of souls. As long as he prevented my soul from reincarnating he could put me in any living from. He couldn't get the body that they gave me when I became a spirit back, but he could bring me back the body that I was born with."

He gulped, "You're human? Is this some kind of goodbye just before you're shipped off to the mortal realm?"

She laughed, "No, I'm not human."

"Then what are you?"

"Your sister pleaded for me to become a being that lived in Takamagahara, so he folded in the end and anchored me to your sister."

"Anchored?"

"There was no other way, I had a matured body that was being pushed into Takamagahara without any celestial powers."

"You spent your life being a spirit though."

"My body didn't go through that, my spirit body did. . . it's too complicated to explain but think of it as if a spirit abandons its body to live with a new one."

He scrunched his brows in his characteristic manner, "Sure."

"But the point is that instead of spirit robes I'm to wear these now."

Not able to see her garbs he paused her a moment and commanded the lanterns to be lit magically around the room. When the soft glow of the lanterns encompassed her he could see her clothing, making his eyes widened.

She did a small twirl for him and smiled, "I was made into a goddess."

He smiled and laughed with joy as he pulled her into another embrace. "A goddess! There's nothing stopping us now, we're together forever. And this time forever became a lot longer than a few short months."

She sighed and her smile dimmed a bit, "Aren't you going to ask me what I am the goddess of?"

Grinning he drank her up with his eyes, "Sure. Then my lady, what are you the goddess of?"

"Before I tell you. . . just know that your sister did everything she could."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm the goddess of the dawning sun."

"You're kidding right?"

"I know, I'm sorry."

After a moment of painful consideration he shrugged and held her, "I'll take whatever I can get. Before you were dead, and now you're not. I'll take any strings attached as long I can keep you in my life."

Sighing in his embrace she began to doze off, "I'll be falling asleep soon."

"I know."

"You're awake at night and I'm awake just before dawn, dawn, and just a bit after dawn if I'm lucky."

"How are you awake now? You should have been asleep hours ago."

"I was turned into a goddess only an hour or so before I came over here." She let out a yawn and blushed, "I guess it's taking a while to kick in."

"Should I take you to your temple?"

She shook her head sleepily, "I don't have one. . . and probably will never be given one."

Seeing that the new goddess was unable to stay awake and remain on her feet he scooped her up to hold her bridal-style. "Why not?"

Closing her eyes she answered as she cuddled toward his chest, "Who would come worship at the temple of Wakahirume, the goddess of the dawning sun. They can go to Amaterasu for their problems and leave me out of it."

He chuckled and laid her on his bed, "Want to stay here then?"

She smiled, "That's what I was planning."

He brushed away a loose strand of hair that draped across her face, "I have to go out. If the moon doesn't show up in the sky what will people think?"

Slitting open her eyes a bit she pulled him into the bed and held him with a surprising iron grip. "Not tonight. I want you to stay here with me."

"What will people say when they talk of times when the moon disappeared suddenly for one night?"

"You could do this few weeks, make people think it's part of some lunar cycle or something."

"A night without the moon?"

She shrugged, "No one will miss it."

"Hey!"

Closing her eyes once again she snuggled into him, "Just as long as I have you in my arms I don't care what other people think."

With that she fell into a deep slumber. He smiled down at the girl he thought he had lost and kissed the crown of her head. "Same here."

Tragedy supposedly behind them, Wakahirume and Tsukiyomi lived out their days quietly waiting for dawn. During the night Tsukiyomi would wander as she slept soundly in his bed, then with the coming dawn he would make haste toward the entrance of his temple and wait for her at the bottom of the steps. Like clock work she would step out from behind the temple doors. Spotting him, a face of joy would cross her face as if she hadn't known he would be waiting for her even though he was there at the bottom of the steps every morning. Rushing down the steps and stumbling at least once, she would fling her self into his arms and steal a passionate kiss from him. The two would stay at the bottom of the steps or walk around until the sun began to rise. As the sun was peeking over the horizon, they would make their way up the steps. Standing outside until the final moments he was physically able, he would slip inside and she would follow soon after when the sun had finished rising. Both their bodies begging for sleep they would lie in bed already changed into their sleeping garments and hold each other as their minds drifted off.

The coming of sunset Tsukiyomi would awaken and begrudgingly leave his sleeping love as he had to tend to his duty of staying outside during the night. However, once every four weeks he would allow himself the pleasure of remaining with her in bed as he watched her sleep. Those were his favorite days, when he was able to see her awaken from slumber. She would stir awake languidly as her eye lids slid open. Seeing him there she would give him a soft smile and pulling him in for their daily kiss. Afterwards, he would complain jokingly about morning breath. Soon she would have to go to the door and go out for dawn; however, instead of going down the steps she would stay by the door and talk to him through it.

They were contented with that for a while, for it was more than they thought would be possible after her death. However, like all things it soon felt more like barrier to be with each other for such a short time. Unable to spend enough time together awake and unable to consummate their love it became difficult for the two, a year and a bit later.

"So what are you doing today?"

Wakahirume smiled toward her mate, "I'll be weaving with your sister."

Sitting upon the steps and her leaning back against him between his legs he chuckled, "Weaving?"

"She wanted to make a tapestry and wanted some company."

"So you're making a tapestry too?"

"Might as well." Leaning back into him even more she glanced toward the sun that threatened to rise, "Any requests on the design?"

"Anything but a dawn motif." She sat up and stared at him with a hurt look, catching it immediately he shook his head. "I don't mean it like that. . . It's just that. . . dawn is like a double-edged sword. . . on one end, I love that I can see you every morning and see you smiled. . . but on the other, it's that dawn is also our time to say goodbye."

She looked down at her hands sadly then tilted her head to side to look back up at him sheepishly, "It won't be like that forever. . . My body is able to stay awake until a little past noon. One day, I might be able to stand the entire day."

He extended his hand to stroke her cheek, "Maybe."

"I'll see you at dawn and sunset then. It'll be a little easier for us right? I would wake up earlier and fall asleep later than when the sunsets. And you could try holding off sleep until a bit later and wake earlier as well."

"Yeah, it will be easier." He kissed her forehead gestured for her to stand. "Come on, the sun's rising."

Climbing the steps and standing by the now open temple doors Wakahirume frowned, "Why does feel like goodbye?"

He chuckled, "Because it is?"

She shook her head, "No, not like always. . . not good night."

Embracing her and burring his nose into her ebony tresses he sighed, "It's just in your head. I'll see you tomorrow morning and the morning after that."

She nodded and threaded her fingers through his silver hair, "I'll see you tomorrow morning. I love you Tsukiyomi."

Pulling back and smiling, he whispered into her ear like he did every morning. "I'll be waiting for you in my dreams. I love you Wakahirume."

With final passionate lip-lock he slipped in through the temple doors and away from the day. Facing the down the steps she had finished climbing she sighed, another day until noon to complete.

Finding her way to the Heavenly Weaving Hall she found Amaterasu sitting at the main loom with a spare one next to her. Sitting down next to her friend Wakahirume greeted her. "Good morning Amaterasu-sama."

The older goddess laughed and shook her head, "I keep telling you to call me without the honorific."

Wakahirume shrugged, "And I might actually listen to you one day. So, what theme are you doing for your tapestry?"

"Fire, lightening, and war."

She raised an eyebrow at her sister-in-law. "Morbid much?"

Amaterasu sighed as she unwillingly continued weaving, "Remember Futsunushi?"

"The god of fire and lightening?"

Nodding she passed the shuttle to the other side, "Well, I recently made him a general and now he can add 'god of war' to his resume."

"Isn't Bishamon the god of war?"

"He still is, he just now has partner in crime."

"So you're making it for him?"

"He wanted a tapestry for his temple. He was going to ask one Amnotanabatahime but I volunteered instead."

"You told him you would weave it instead of the goddess of the weavers?"

Sliding the shuttle once again she used her foot to push the peddle, "When I realized what needed to be woven I couldn't have Amnotanabatahime do it, she's far to kind and gentle of a person to do it."

Wakahirume laughed and faced her loom to string it and set it up, "Maybe you're too kind to be doing that too."

Amaterasu smiled, "Oh well. So did you choose what you're going to weave?"

"A sakura blossom tree. It will soon be spring and when the flowers fade I want something to remember them by."

"How did my brother end up with someone like you?"

She smiled, "How did I end up with someone like him?"

Allowing a comfortable silence to surround them, they were soon pulled out of it from the commotion that was caused at the entrance of the hall. The other weavers were screaming and running away from the entrance frantically. Wakahirume and Amaterasu both quickly stood up to see what was going on. There at the doors of the hall was a piebald colt that had been obviously abused for it had marks of lashings that seeped out blood onto the floor. The horse was mad, running about the trampling anything in its path. Charging further into the hall Wakahirume ran in front of Amaterasu.

"Run my lady! Go to safety!" Wakahirume faced back toward the sun goddess, a move that proved fatal. With her head turned she failed to see the colt raising its front legs.

"Wakahirume! Watch out!" Whirling around to face the horse again her eyes widened and raised her hands in defense. Legs veered up the horse stamped them down, one leg hitting the ground with a resounding clomp and the other connecting with Wakahirume's chest. The wind knocked out of her and a good many ribs broken and bruised she lost her balance and fell backwards. In the event of distracting the animal away from Amaterasu she found her self standing in front of her loom, the same loom that fell upon. Once fallen, the horse galloped away to terrorize others leaving the young goddess.

Rushing to her side Amaterasu questioned fearfully, "Are you alright?"

The goddess lurched forward and coughed up blood. She fell back onto the ground and gasped out, "Last time I coughed blood, it didn't turn out too well for me."

"Don't talk, it'll make it worse."

"One thing."

"Don't talk."

"Something is piercing my pelvis."

"Your pelvis?" Amaterasu delicately reached for the red soaked kimono but retracted when hearing the younger goddess wince. "Oh god. . ."

"I'm not going to make it am I?"

"Don't say that."

Wakahirume gave a struggled smile, "I've been through this once already, this is kind of how it felt. . . at least it's not my fault this time."

"I think it's the shuttle."

"I really shouldn't leave those lying about."

"Don't joke."

"You sound like your brother. . . he said the same thing."

"But this time it's different right? You're going to make it through this. Someone has already gone for Sukunabiko, he will heal you and all will be well."

"Not even the dwarf god of healing can save me now."

"No! You will live! I need you in my life!" Tears poured down Amaterasu's face as her words trembled. "Y-you are my closest friend Wakahirume."

"You'll find someone else to accompany you." She coughed up even more blood and began taking uneven breaths.

"Wakahirume!"

Gulping down blood so as not to choke on it the younger goddess let out a pained chuckle, "I always thought each person was designated one dramatic death scene. . . I'm onto my second."

"It's not a death scene!"

"Don't deny it Amaterasu-sama, I don't want my last few moments to be trying to convince you of the truth."

She cried even harder but let a smile creep across her face looking down at her dear friend. "Amaterasu. I told you to call me Amaterasu. No 'sama' just Amaterasu."

"Amaterasu. . . Tell. . . tell Tsukiyomi that I love him and that I'm sorry."

"Sorry? What on earth do you have to be sorry about?"

Closing her eyes Wakahirume sighed, "For leaving him alone again."

"You have to stay for him. . . what will he do?"

"You'll both be fine, I'm not that important. . . I love you both so much. . ." Her voice coming out weaker Wakahirume's body went limp and her breath stopped.

Amaterasu's eyes widened and she shook her head frantically. "Wakahirume! You can't do this! Wakahirume!"

A few moments later Sukunabiko came upon the dead body of a goddess and a goddess in hysterical sadness as she sobbed over the body.

Near the gardens of Takamagahara a god awoke covered in sweat as if from a nightmare. Panting for breath his arm automatically searched for the slumbering form that never failed to be there for that past year. But when his hand found no one there his eyes became frantic as he searched around the room. "Wakahirume!"

Glancing out the window he saw that it was night, well past the time that she could stay awake. Jumping out of bed and getting hastily dressed he stood by the temple doors. He had to go out and find her. If she was perfectly fine he would be making a fool of himself, but at least he would know she was okay. Nevertheless, there was a nagging feeling that something was wrong.

Out the door he noticed that there was frantic movement everywhere. It seemed that all mythical creatures were still awake and panicking about something. Seeing his brother Kukunochi running toward his temple Tsukiyomi met him half way.

Looking up toward the taller god he questioned with worry, "What's going on!"

"I knew you wouldn't have heard, it happened while you were asleep. . . actually I'm surprised you're awake now."

Confusion covered the younger god's face, "What do you mean? It's night, I'm supposed to be awake."

Kukunochi shook his head, "It's not night. The day is only a little after noon."

"What?"

"Your sister. She's went into hiding after what happened to Wakahirume."

Eyes widening even farther he demanded an answer. "What happened to Wakahirume!"

"I'm sorry brother."

Tsukiyomi shook his head in denial. "No, there is nothing to be sorry about! She is fine! She'll come home tonight and I'll see her every morning!"

"Brother. . ."

"Where is she!"

"At the celestial crypt."

Anger slipped out of him as quickly as it had come. A blank look adorned his face as he slumped slowly to the ground. He had lost her again, and both times unable to protect her. This time, not even there at her side. Not even glancing toward his brother he whispered, "Can you take me to her?"

Without hesitation he hefted his heartbroken brother upon his shoulders and made quick work to reach the celestial crypt. Once inside the great hall, lined with the impressively designed wooden coffins, the sea of gods and goddesses parted noticing who had entered. No one that was not a deity could enter and it seemed all who could had come. Walking past the people blankly he reached the body of his beloved that had been cleaned and redressed since her death. A sheer material draped across her, she looked to be asleep instead of dead.

"Wakahirume." Her name fell from his lips as a whispered prayer.

The silence echoed through the room as the gods and goddesses bowed their heads, paying respect to the fallen comrade.

Tsukiyomi broke the silence in a fit of rage. The anger that had disappeared returned ten fold as he glared at the crowd with completely silver eyes that were usually tinged with blue. "Who dares kill her!"

No one answered lest they had to suffer the fury of the god.

"Answer me! How had she fallen!"

Amatsumikaboshi, the god of evil, spoke up. "She was trampled by a piebald colt that rampaged through the Heavenly Weaving Hall. Falling upon her own shuttle after being kicked down she died from the wounds."

"A piebald colt! Why was such an animal in the hall!"

Again the god of evil responded, "It was your brother."

Tsukiyomi approached the god in frustration and Amatsumikaboshi took the equal amount of steps back. "Which one!"

The god looked away from the enraged deity and whispered out the name of the one at fault. "Susanowo."

Tsukiyomi froze, "What? He wouldn't. . ."

"He was envious of you. He wished to have Wakahirume and win her back. . . he got a piebald colt and whipped it making it mad, then set it loose in the hall. Susanowo hoped to sweep in and save her, seeming like the hero."

The other gods and goddesses gasped at the tale.

"How do you know this Amatsumikaboshi? No one else here seems to know this much."

"I am the god of evil. Any intentions based upon evil I know about, and ironically am powerless to support and prevent anything from happening."

"Susanowo. . ." Tsukiyomi gave a final glance back at his dead love then marched back toward the door. His voice dripping with vengeance he whispered harshly, "I shall kill him."

Kukunochi grabbed him by the arm, "Do not be foolish Tsukiyomi! Justice will be done, but not by your hand."

Ripping his arm away from the taller god's grasp he yelled out, "You are going to let this slide! I loved her more than anything! I'm not about let her killer get away, my brother or not he will die!"

Bishamon stepped forward, "I will administer the punishment for it is in my jurisdiction."

Tsukiyoi growled then crossed his arms and looked away, specifically at Wakahirume. "Fine."

The god of justice and the protector of the law nodded. With a booming voice he orated over the crowd, his words carrying over all the lands of Takamagahara. "Susanowo is to be banished. Sent away to the farthest province, Izumo, he will be driven out without anything with him. He will leave with no possessions except for the clothes on his back."

Tsukiyomi huffed, "That's it huh? No death."

Kukunochi shook his head, "We cannot kill him. Excluding you and your sister he is the most powerful god. We have more important things to worry about, your sister for one."

"My sister?"

"She witnessed Wakahirume's death and was devastated by the loss of her dearest friend. . . Amaterasu has hidden herself in a cave behind the bolder, Ama no Iwato."

"Let her hide. . . She needs time to morn much like I do."

"But darkness has fallen over Takamagahara and the mortal world! In the short time that the sun has been gone the demons have taken advantage of it!"

"I don't care! The world will have deal without the sun and the moon!"

"The moon. . . no, you cannot plan to go into hiding as well."

Tsukiyomi let out an exhausted breath and turned to walk out the door, "Leave us alone. . ."

Kukunochi yelled at his brother, an act surprising from the usually quiet god. "Don't be childish! I am deeply sorry for your loss, but you cannot abandon us not can you abandon human kind! The world is over run with demons! The tranquility they once knew will be lost forever if we do not have Amaterasu return to the sky!"

Tsukiyomi stopped in his tracks but did not turn to look at the crowd of deities. "Get a mirror. Hold a festival just outside of Ama no Iwato. . . Amaterasu should come out in curiosity. . . she was always so curious. . . When she comes out take the mirror and hold it in front of her."

"You actually think this will work?"

He nodded, "She has never been allowed to look at her reflection. . . if she does, she will realize how brightly she shines and how vital she is to the world." With that he left the hall leaving the gods and goddesses in silence.

Days later all of Takamagahara held a festival at Ama no Iwato. Just as Tsukiyomi had predicted, Amaterasu came out of hiding and light brought back to the world. However, just as Tsukiyomi promised, he did not come out at night for many weeks.

Much like Wakahirume's first death, he expected to see her there. Reincarnated once again, retaining all her memories and more importantly in his arms. He kept hoping that Takami-Musubi would grant another favor to Amaterasu and all would be well. Yet, he knew it was too late. Too much time had passed, Wakahirume had been reincarnated, this time she was not a being in Takamagahara. Everyday at dawn he expected her to come creeping in to the temple and climbing into bed like she always had done but in the end he would have to slumber in his cold bed alone.

Then, there came a morning when there was a banging at his door. Tsukiyomi faced the door quickly and opened the door allowing the light to stream in, hoping beyond hope that Wakahirume would be behind the door. Disappointment clouded his eyes when he saw Amaterasu standing at the door. "What do you want?"

Seeing the tired form of his brother Amaterasu sighed, "I want you to live again. The moon hasn't shown itself in weeks. The tides are becoming unbalanced, there are storms across the globe."

"You let demons go wild in the mortal realm when you hid. Don't come pointing your hypocritical finer at me sister."

"Then stop being the god of the moon."

Tsukiyomi growled, "I'll get right on that." Letting go of the sarcasm he slumped against the large temple doors, "You know I can't do that. A god can't just give up their position so quickly. . . only death can separate us from out duty."

"Are you willing to do that? Die?"

He stared at her in confusion. "What are you talking about? Are you planning to kill me?"

Amaterasu nodded, "If you're willing to go along with a proposition I have for you."

"You want me to give up my life? Just for the sake of ocean tides? You're insane."

"No, for the sake of Wakahirume."

"What?" His eyes narrowed at what she said.

"Takami-Musubi allowed me to choose what being she would be reincarnated as." Seeing the hopeful look in his eyes she shook her head, "But I was not allowed to choose a being that resides in Takamagahara. I didn't know what to decide on. . . what would make her the happiest."

He let a sad smiled cross his features, "A crane. . . she told me once she wanted to become a crane so she could fly near the moon. . ."

"A crane? Oh how I wished I knew that a few weeks ago." Amaterasu became pensive and seemed to forget that her brother was still there.

A few long moments passed and she did not continue Tsukiyomi broke the silence. "So what did you choose?"

Brought back from her thoughts she gazed into her brother's eyes, "I. . . I sent her back as a tree."

He gave her a disbelieving look, "A tree?"

"Not just any tree, a god tree that will grow in the heart of Japan." She smiled, "She was the spirit of Japan and goddess of the dawning sun for all her celestial life, she loved Japan so dearly. . . I wanted her to stand tall looking over the nation she loved so much."

He smiled at the thought, "She must be happy."

"I hope so. . . but I also sent her as a patron of the new line of mikos."

"Priestesses? For what?"

"While I was hidden demons took over the world, then when I came out the human fought back. The world is tipping into chaos. . . I sent a densetsu no miko to balance out the world."

"So the world can easily be saved by one little girl?"

"No, but whenever the scale tips another densetsu no miko will appear. . . and so will Wakahirume."

"What do you mean?"

"The final calling of the densetsu no miko will be that of Wakahirume. She will return back to the land of living complete a calling. . . actually, two callings. Then she will join us once again in Takamagahara."

Tsukiyomi smiled in elation at the thought, "She must still only be a small sprout."

"Actually, she's a sapling."

"Already? How?"

"I asked Kukunochi for a favor. I wanted to make sure she would survive, I sped up the process from a tiny sprout to a slender sapling."

Tsukiyomi nodded, "Thank you."

"This wasn't just for you, I did this for myself as well. It gives me peace of mind knowing that she will be alive and well in the mortal realm. . . and I want to be assured even farther."

"What do you mean?"

"I want you to die and reincarnate into a being that could protect her."

"A being that could protect a tree? You want me to become human?"

"No, I need something stronger."

He scrunched his brow, "A demon? You want me to become a demon?"

She shook her head, "I can't risk you being a demon, but what would you say to being a half demon?"

"A half demon? Such a thing exists?"

"Yes, they are rare and almost always in hiding from man and demon. They are never accepted by neither side. Ridiculed and shunned for their entire lives." She stared into her brother's eyes with all seriousness, "Can you live like that? Are you willing to go through a life like that if you can be by her, even if she is a tree?"

He thought it over for a split second and genuine smiled adorned his face, a smile that had been missing since the death of his love. "So where do I sign up?"

"As soon as possible. I have gotten the permission of the gods to kill you when you are ready."

"Who will take care of the moon?"

She smiled, "Do not worry about that, I will take on the responsibility of sun and moon."

Tsukiyomi nodded and stood before her with his arms outstretched. "Then kill me now so I can be with her again."

Amaterasu closed her eyes and allowed all the energy of the sun of the world to gather about her. "I will miss you brother."

He smirked, "What are you talking about? We fought all the time. I always kind of knew I would die at your hands."

She smiled, "I truly will miss you. . . and treat her well. Although it may not be in the form you want it to be in I hope you find happiness at last."

The light engulfed him and his flesh began to burn away. Closing his eyes he smirked, "I'll make sure of it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX End Story Mode XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

". . . you faded into dust and was reincarnated into the half dog demon you are now."

Inuyasha and Kagome sat in stunned stupor as Amaterasu finished telling her tale. A long tale at that. Judging by the light in the sky, it was well past noon.

Seeing that neither of them were going to speak up first Amaterasu smiled, "You probably still have some questions. I'll answer all of them to the best of my abilities."

Shaking her head out of the dumbfounded expression she found herself in Kagome began with the first question. "When did I go from being a god tree to being. . . me?"

"Well, when I sent you to the mortal realm I sent you as a tree. . . specifically, the Goshinboku."

"I was the Goshinboku!"

"Doesn't that make sense though? The connection you both felt toward the sacred tree. How you, Kagome, never felt complete without it by your side. The reason why Inuyasha thought he was attracted to Kikyou."

Kagome flinched slightly at the last statement, but Inuyasha was there to grasp her hand in comfort. He growled at Amaterasu for bringing up something he had been trying to bury, pardon the pun. "What are you talking about?"

"Kikyou was always near the Goshinboku. The soul of Wakahirume within the tree was what drew your soul, not Kikyou."

He raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I fell in love with a tree?"

She smiled, "A tree fell in love with you."

"What?"

"The reason why Kagome is here at all is because she fell in love with the hanyou that ran about and protected the forest she was in. She saw you being shot again her and pinned to her. She wrapped roots around you to protect as you were dormant for fifty years."

Inuyasha chuckled a bit and glanced at Kagome, "Thanks."

Kagome smiled, "Any time."

Amaterasu shook her head, "You two don't change at all. Anyways, when Kagome crossed the well and released Inuyasha from the Goshinboku, she saw that there was another being with the exact same soul. The Goshinboku stood by and watched over you two, watching the love blossom. It watched over you two as you said your final farewell and when Inuyasha lived in the well for five years."

Kagome's eyes widened, "You lived in the well?"

"In my defense, I was hoping you would come back."

"That's sweet. . . I think." The young miko faced to the goddess, "But why did I get reincarnated twenty-two years ago? The Goshinboku is alive and well, it's not dead."

Amaterasu nodded, "That's the part that I can't explain very well. The Goshinboku stood at the Higurashi shrine for so long, and when this era came about it saw that your parents were wanting a child. . . it willed itself to die and transfer its soul into the yet to be conceived child. The Goshinboku remembered of Kagome Higurashi and was waiting for your time to reincarnate. . . Does that make sense?"

Kagome tilted her head, "Barely. But what about the Goshinboku? It's still alive."

"That's the odder part, it was soon taken over by another soul without it dying. A feat never before completed."

Kagome's eyes widened in a realization that just clicked, "My dream. . ."

Inuyasha looked at her in confusion, "Your dream?"

"Yeah, my dream! The dream of having my soul mate shot against me and beating his last heartbeat. . . It wasn't a look into the future, it was a memory from my past life as the Goshinboku." Grinning Kagome flung herself into the startled Inuyasha's arms. Everything that was standing between them had been eliminated in the meeting of Amaterasu. Pulling back slightly she gazed into his eyes, "We can be together now. The world can't stop us now."

Amaterasu smiled upon them kindly, "I should be going. I've been here too long as it is. I'll clarify two things for you before I go." Taking their attention from each other, the couple look toward the goddess. "Do not worry about Susanowo, he will not be a problem. Both of you probably know the legend of the eight-headed beast and finding the love of his life. Also I know you might be wondering what might happen to you after your second calling Kagome. You will join us back in Takamagahara, but so will Inuyasha. Think this life to be a way to make your way back to Takamagahara."

Kagome's eyes watered and pulled herself away from Inuyasha. Situating herself on the ground with her legs folded under her and her arms set before her on the grass she bowed her head until her forehead met her overlapped hands. "Thank you so much. I am forever in debt to you."

Amaterasu kneeled down to be able to touch Kagome's cheek to have her look up. "You bow to no one."

Kagome closed her eyes and a tear escaped down her cheek and nodded, "I thank you nonetheless."

The goddess floated back and gazed at the couple that had finally found each other once again. "I miss both of you so very much, but it warms my heart knowing you are together."

With her parting words she faded into the clouds leaving the couple with newfound hope.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: The reason why the arrow was blue? No mystical reason, just making fun of other fanfic writers that change the color of Kagome's powers. I've heard green, blue, purple, and once even orange. I know fanfics are a freedom of expression but let's stick as close as we can to the canon people.

Did Isaac Newton ever go to China? Uh. . . probably not, but I'm saying he did

When I say god of moon and goddess of the sun I'm avoiding the whole idea of how the sun and moon actually are in the sky at the same time. . . think more night and day. . . don't bother me with technicalities please.

The explanation Wakahirume gives of how she deals with her duties is taken from an idea used in the movie "Meet Joe Black". . . although a movie with bad reviews, I really liked it shrugs

The reason why there is more sibling bonding between Amaterasu, Tsukiyomi, and Susanowo is because they were born pretty much at the same time and in that order. The other gods were born from Izanami when she was still alive and married to Izanagi. Amaterasu, Tsukiyomi, and Susanowo were born after Izanami's death and from Izanagi. Amaterasu and Tsukiyomi from his eyes and Susanowo from his nose. . . don't ask. . . So, in other words, these 3 are the younger gods and then there are a bunch of other gods that are half siblings (?) that are older by a good many years

Thank you to all past and future reviewers! I read everyone of them, but I didn't have time to respond to them this time. But I'll try my hardest next time!

Thank you for going through this excruciating long read. I would appreciate it if a review was left, this took many long nights to finish and hope to hear about what you think. Till next time!


	16. Living Without You

Author Notes:You know what I have realized? It's getting harder and harder to write this fic, but don't worry I WILL finish this fic. But I need another outlet so I have decided to write another Inuyasha fic. It will be an AU this time, being that this is a continuation. . . another one of the reasons why it's so hard to just sit down and write, damn having to respect the canon! sigh Well I hope you enjoy this chappie! OH, and news! I'm off to college! Wish me luck!

Disclaimer: Inu and Kag belong to each other. . . awwe, how sweet. . . But being they are fictional characters they also belong to the people that own them for real in Japan.

". . ." dialogue

'. . .' thoughts

. . . 'the voice'

**Living Without You**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

"S-should we be doing this Inuyasha?" Kagome mumbled out between heated kisses with the hanyou.

Venturing toward her neck he kissed, licked, and sucked on her pulse point. Moaning, she tilted her head so that Inuyasha was able to have better access. Her fingers tangled with his silver locks, her mind going in and out of a haze. He smirked arrogantly against her skin and scraped his fang lightly making her shiver in response.

"I don't see a problem with it Kagome. There's nothing preventing us from being together." Taking in a long whiff of her scent he whispered hotly in her ear, "I've wanted you for so long."

Hearing the comment, Kagome's eyes widened a bit in panic and pushed him away. In reality she didn't have the strength push the half demon away, but feeling that he was being pushed Inuyasha pulled back confused.

"What's wrong?"

Kagome stumbled over her words staring into the hanyou's eyes. "I. . . well. . . you. . ."

He smirked slightly, male pride coming over him, knowing that he had caused her to fumble over her words. Leaning in once again he gently pushed her so that her back rested again the arm of the couch. She felt his lips make their way from her jaw to her shoulder. Hearing a moan that she was unable to hold back he allowed the hand that had been resting on her hip to slide up her shirt.

She felt his venturing fingers brush against the side of her right breast. Taking in a shaky breath she knew that if she was going to say what she needed to say it had to be before it got any further. "Inu. . ." Feeling him kissing her pulse point once again her mouth fell open, "Oh god."

Taking that as a positive sign he let his right hand that had been resting at the side of her breast to her back. Finding the clasp to her bra he smirked as he deftly unsnapped it. The quick action made Kagome react as she shoved the hanyou off her as she blushed profusely.

"My bra!"

He growled from his place on the floor and glared at the blushing miko sitting on the couch. "The hell was that for!" And how the hell did she push him off her?

"My bra!"

Scowling he picked himself up and plopped down on the other side of the couch. "I heard you the first time. What's the big deal? It's not my fault you wear the thing."

She blushed in further, "I'm not about to go flaunt around without a bra!"

He sighed and passed his hand roughly through his bangs, "This really isn't about your bra is it?"

"Yes! . . . well, no. . . not exactly, but that action was unnecessary and uncalled for!"

He smirked and shook his head, "No, I think it was necessary and very much called for."

She turned away in a huff, "When the hell did I get stuck with a horny dog boy?"

Scrunching his brows he growled, "Excuse me for being the only one ecstatic that there is no more impending doom and nothing else keeping us apart."

"I. . .I'm happy too. . . but there is so much. . ."

"So much what? Standing in the way? That's the thing, there isn't anything left standing between us."

She nodded, "And I think it's great. It's a time I've always been waiting for but. . ."

He sighed in exasperation, "God, the notorious Kagome 'but.'"

"My butt?" She leaned forward on the couch to check out her posterior. "It's notorious?"

"Not your ass, but. You know however, nevertheless, yet. . . You say 'but' a lot. Especially when it comes to our relationship."

With an angered look on her face she stood up and stomped out the sitting room to head for the foyer to climb up the stairs. Chasing after her and getting a hold of her wrist as she was climbing he turned her around causing the girl to lose balance and stumble. Catching her he smirked, "Can't help but fall for me can you?"

Seething at his arrogance she got a hold of her balance and pushed him down the stairs. "God! You're the most insensitive person I know! How the hell did I end up with a pompous jerk like you!"

Racing up the remaining steps she ran to her bedroom and slammed the door, leaving a confused and hurt hanyou at the bottom of the stairs. "The hell?"

Picking himself up he leapt up the steps and made his way to her door slamming it opening. Kagome jumped from her seat on the edge of the bed and stared wide-eyed at the livid looking hanyou. Bracing herself as if about to be hit she tentatively whispered out, "You're angry."

Growling he made his way toward her, "I'm always angry!"

Feeling the bed sink as he sat down next to her she leaned away from him. "I'm sorry."

If she thought he looked angered before she was mistaken. Rumbling out through clenched teeth he tugged on her arm to look at him. "Don't say that. Don't say you're sorry."

"But. . ."

He was taking slow calming breaths as he pressed forehead against her shoulder. "You think I'm being insensitive. You think I'm just mad because you won't put out." Inuyasha lifted his head so that he could smell her hair, "I don't want you to think that I think like that."

She sighed, "But it's true, I'm not putting out. . .can we stop using that phrase?"

Letting out small chuckle he pulled her into an embrace. "Even if you think so this isn't about sex for me."

Kagome's famous blush adorned her face along with confusion. "It's not?"

With his arms still around her he tugged her down to lay on the bed. Now in the position of him facing the ceiling and Kagome laying on her stomach with her head lying on her chest he continued. "If this was about sex it would be so much simpler wouldn't it?"

An annoyed look passed across her face, "Oh God. Please don't use the line of 'it's not sex, it's making love.' That's the excuse teenagers use to dignify underage sex."

Inuyasha chuckled, "Trust me, that's not where I'm going with this."

"Then. . ."

"Brace yourself for this little piece of information I'm about to share with you Kagome."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm a five hundred sixty-four year old virgin Kagome."

Pushing off his chest with a sounding grunt from the hanyou, she leaned over him with widened eyes. "Five hundred sixty-four years! That's. . . I don't know what that is. I can't believe Kouga was right."

Inuyasha scrunched his eyebrows at that, "What does the wolf have anything to do with my sex life?"

Hearing his jealous tone Kagome smiled and kissed the tip of his nose. "From what you just told me, you don't have a sex life."

He turned his head away from her, "Maybe I shouldn't have waited. Don't even think for a second that I didn't get offers. Because I've gotten plenty of those and most from attractive girls."

Kagome lifted an eyebrow, "You do realize you're digging your self deeper into a hole."

He sighed becoming aware of his choice of words. "That's not the point either. Look I got offers, what did you expect? Some were before I met you, some after. But what I do know is that I waited. And more importantly, I waited for you."

She searched his eyes to see if he was lying. The miko couldn't help herself but be paranoid that the hanyou was hiding things from her. Kouga had three mates since the last time she saw him, a fact she wouldn't had found out if he hadn't told her. She couldn't let go of the doubt that maybe Inuyasha had his fair share of women in his day, but just was unwilling to tell her.

"Kagome?"

"I . . ."

Inuyasha smiled sadly, "You don't believe me do you?"

Taken aback that he saw through her so quickly she tried to deny it, "No! It's not-"

"No, I get it. It's a hard concept to wrap your head around. You not having lost your virginity at twenty-two is possible, uncommon, but possible. A guy nearing his six hundredth birthday should be an expert in the art of making love. . . but I'm not. And I have no idea how to prove that to you. There's really no way to check on a guy."

Kagome wasn't sure if there could have been a moment when she felt more like an ass than she did then. He hadn't doubted her for second, while she thought he was hiding the past. Shaking her head she took his clawed right hand with both of hers. "I don't need to check. I believe you."

He smiled, "No you don't. But thanks for saying it anyways."

She tilted her head examining his hands, "Everything finally got out of the way for us and I put something there. It's just. . . after I heard Amaterasu-sama's story I began to wonder. Am I living in the story between Inuyasha and Kagome, or the continuation of the story between Tsukiyomi and Wakahirume?"

"Kagome. . ."

She closed her eyes and smiled sadly, "I know it sounds like I'm belittling everything we've been through together but it's hard not to wonder." A sob broke out from the miko, "I love you Inuyasha. I don't doubt that, but is it because of Wakahirume's feelings in her past or my feelings in the present? Did I just fall for you because you were my soul mate? Am I. . . Am I my own person anymore? Is our love even real?"

His heart broke at the sound of her sob and her words. "You. . . you asked me the other day when I had fallen in love with you. I didn't answer you because I thought it wasn't fair for you to ask me that. I knew I loved you, you weren't sure about what you felt about me." Pausing he looked down at her and brushed back a strand of hair. "I realized that I cared for you when you were hurt by my brother. I sent you back to your time right after that and told you never to return. But you came back anyways and you ran into my arms. I was convinced I could live without you before that. That you would one day leave to live in your modern world and I would be able to deal with it. But when I had you in my arms. . . back at my side, I came to understand that I couldn't imagine a life without you."

Kagome eyes widened, "You loved me since then? That's so long ago."

He chuckled, "Sorry to disappoint you, but no. I realized I cared for you back then. I loved you a few months afterwards. It wasn't sudden, I didn't wake up one day saying 'I love Kagome.' I came to accept it when I turned full demon and killed all the bandits. Later on we ran into Sesshoumaru and I turned full demon again. When I came to, I smelt the blood of all those I killed, and not remembering any of it. I tried to wash myself out in the river. . . you offered me a towel and didn't say anything else. You didn't probe, question, or lecture me. That's when I feared that I might one day slay you while my demon blood took over, and that scared me more than I had been scared in my entire life. You were the only one that was brave enough to come near me when I turned. You were the only one that accepted me completely for who I was, instead of what I was."

"Inuyasha. . ." Her lip trembled as tears welled up.

"Okay, so that might not prove anything but-" He was cut off when Kagome flung herself into his arms. Surprised he questioned her, "Kagome?"

"Thank you."

He nervously laughed and pulled her back, "What are you thanking me for?"

"For not telling me it was love at first sight."

He smirked, "Who could fall in love with a wench like you at first sight?"

She laughed slapping his arm, "Hey! Well, apparently Kouga can, so there!"

He let out a growl in annoyance, "Would you stop bringing his name up?"

She shook her head, "It's sweet how jealous you get. . . although incredibly annoying at the same time."

He sighed and pulled her down to lay with him on the bed once again. Lapsing into a comfortable silence thoughts plagued the hanyou. The doubts that Kagome had about their love not being real was something he had not considered. However, now that she had voiced them it was impossible to push them out of his internal rambling. He was positive that he loved her. It wasn't one magical moment when his feelings for her changed. It happened over months, during all the confusion of Naraku and Kikyou. His feelings for Kagome had built over time with each of her actions. But what about her? She had come to realize her feelings two days ago. . . shouldn't he be the one doubting her feelings?

Seeing the array of emotions crossing the hanyou's face Kagome tried to pull him out of his musings, "Inuyasha?"

Yanked out of his thoughts he grumpily looked down at her, "What?"

Eyes widening in surprised she pulled away from him to sit up. "What crawled up your ass and died this time?"

Turning over he lay on his side facing away from her. "Nothing."

Rolling her eyes she leaned over his torso to look up at him, "Something is bothering you. After quelling my worries I'm not about to let you brood over yours."

"Leave me alone."

"I used to always find you in these moods when you were sitting in a tree. . . always a tree. Then I would use that word and you would go plummeting down." She smiled warmly at him, "It was fun back then wasn't it? Even with impending doom and constant escape with our lives. Just the us and gang."

"Whatever."

Scrunching her brows in anger she pinched his arm, making jump.

"The hell was that for!" The hanyou sat up yelling in her face.

"Here I am reminiscing about good times in the past and all you can say is whatever? I really do sometimes wonder how I fell in love with you."

"Keep on wondering!"

Realization hit her, calming her down. "You want to know don't you?"

He growled looking away, "Know what?"

"When I fell I love."

"Two days ago apparently."

"You have got to be kidding me. Two days ago? You actually think I fell in love with you two days ago? That's when I told you." She shook her head facing away from him as well, "I dealt with you for two years in the feudal era, and trust me, if I wasn't in love with you I don't think I would have lasted that long around you."

"But. . . you said that you didn't know how you felt."

"Exactly. I didn't know how I felt, but that doesn't mean I wasn't in love with you."

He looked toward her turned back, "When was it then."

Taking in a steadying breath she thought back to a painful memory. "I-It was when you chose Kikyou over me."

He stared at her in shock. "W-what?"

"I caught you with Kikyou once. . ." She giggled sadly, "Proclaiming your undying love to her. Saying you would never let Naraku have her and that you would fulfill the promise you made her. You remember that day right? You noticed me there and just stared, not saying anything. . . I knew you had chosen."

Inuyasha reached out hand to settle it upon her shoulder but she shrugged away from it. Realizing her action she glanced back at him from the corner of her eye.

"I'm sorry. . . It's just. . ." Shaking her head she looked away from him once again, "After you whispered my name. . . I ran. I ran to the village and told everyone I just came back to drop off supplies. God. I ran home like a coward. I went to school and told my friends you dumped me, and that I was perfectly fine with it. When I got home I realized I still had two jewel shards still with me. I. . . I went to the well ready to jump in return the shards and disappear from your lives forever. . . I couldn't jump. If I did it was saying good bye to you and I couldn't make myself do that."

"Kagome. . ."

"Then I thought the worst thing that I ever crossed my mind. I wished Kikyou to disappear to have never returned from the dead. I never hated myself more than I did then. The idea that I could wish such a thing on someone scared me. I ran from the well as well, I didn't want you to see my face after what I had thought. I ran by the Goshinboku and that shards glowed. . . the tree reminded me of you. . . how much it hurt to know you. . . I. . . wished I had never met you."

His eyes widened with hurt, "Y-you what?"

"If I hadn't met you I wouldn't have to deal with the pain of knowing you chose someone else. . . that you would rather die and go to hell with Kikyou instead of living with me. . . but even after everything I wanted to see you again. The idea of never seeing you again hurt so much more than not being chosen. . . T-that's when I realized I love you. I cried so much at that thought, my mom was the only that could console me." She smiled sadly at the thought, "I went back to the feudal era. I saw you and imagined not seeing you again. That's when I asked you if I could be by your side."

He didn't know how to respond. Of course he remembered all that. It was one of the main reasons he loved Kagome. She put aside her feelings for the sake of being with him. Sure, she might have wanted to be with him, but he needed her by his side more than she needed him. He was completely convinced by that thought.

"Oh God." She wiped away a tear that trailed down her cheek. "I'm being so stupid. Crying at something like this. It was ages ago."

Inuyasha didn't know any comforting words. He was infamous for putting his foot in his mouth. Pulling her into his arms once again, he whispered the only thing he could think of saying to her. "I choose to live with you Kagome."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I think I just got a cavity.

Inuyasha groaned. 'The fuck do you want now?' He held onto the soundly slumbering miko at his side.

A sweet exchange of words. . . Can't believe you didn't have the balls to take her. Instead you give her comforting words saying you don't need to take her. She's going to leave you one of these days.

Tightening his hold on the woman Inuyasha seethed. 'Shut up!'

Why would a woman like her stay with a man. . . wait, you're not a man are you? Why would she stay with a hanyou? Why would anyone stay with a hanyou?

'Get out of my head!'

The voiced chuckled in its deep voice. You actually think I can just leave? You're dumber than I thought.

'What are you talking about?'

Haven't completed what I needed to have I?

'What you needed to-' Suddenly Inuyasha was met with a bright flash of light behind his eyes. Like before, images forced into his mind, unable to push them out.

In the very bed they were laying, there was a peacefully sleeping Kagome. Her hair was fanned out behind her as she rested in the fetal position. The sleeping form was suddenly awoken when an angered Inuyasha came storming into the room. "Who the fuck is he!"

The frightened Kagome sat up with a petrified look in her eyes. "Inuyasha? What's wrong?"

The livid hanyou pulled the miko off the bed forcefully. Gripping her around the neck he growled, "Who's the bastard that you've been fucking behind my back!"

Clawing at the hand that gripped his neck, Kagome pleaded for him to let her go as tears streamed down. "I-I don't know w-what you're talking about. . . Inuyasha! Please let go!"

Gripping tighter on her neck he glared at the woman he thought loved him back. "Who the fuck is it!"

Noticing that she was about to faint from the lack of air he threw her across the room to slam into the wardrobe door. Stomping his way toward her he crouched to be at eye level with her.

"Heard through the Underground grapevine that you're pregnant. Had to hear the news from someone else." He glared at her, his blue iris red gaze meeting with her frightened stormy blue ones. "So who is it Kagome? Who's the father of your bastard child?"

Trembling before him she tried to whisper her response. Going into a coughing fit she broke her stare with him. Taking it as a sign of disobedience he grabbed her arm and shook her.

"Whose is it!"

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she stared up at him, "Yours."

The full youkai calmed for split second but shoved her away soon afterward standing to face away from her. "Liar."

"I didn't even know I was pregnant! I've never been with anyone else! It's yours!"

The demon sighed, "I wish I could believe that."

Standing she inched toward the door leaning her left side against the wall. "I-I can't believe you would say that." Finally next to the door she reached for the handle but was ripped away from it.

"Where the hell do you think you're going!"

"Away."

"You're not leaving me!"

She shook in his grasp, "Only out of the room, until you calm down."

"I am calm bitch!" He swiped a claw at her without much thought of where it connected. "You will not leave me!"

The look in her eyes made him pause in his movements. She took her eyes away from him, her body shaking. Looking down at her abdomen she pressed a hand to where her unborn child was growing. Lifting her hand crimson blood could be seen covering her palm and fingers. Her trembling legs no longer able to hold her up, they collapsed under her. Instinctively she grabbed onto the front of her mate's shirt. "I-inuyasha?"

His red eyes widened, "Kagome. . ."

"I-I'm bleeding. . ."

"Look what you made me do Kagome." He sunk to the floor, Kagome still within his arms. "You know you can't make me angry. You know how I get."

Taking in a shuddering breath she rasped out: "It's yours."

He roared in anger pulling her back and slashing his claws once again, this time hitting her throat. "DON'T LIE TO ME!"

Convulsing she spit out blood that was bubbling from her mouth. The innards of her throat dangling out precariously. Inuyasha shook his head. "You can't do this Kagome. You can't keep making me mad."

Her hands that had been grabbing on to his shirt were now clawing at his chest. Any desperate attempt to get air back into her lungs she struggled. In a final attempt she tried breathing in but a pain shot through her lungs as nothing came in. Locking eyes with the man she loved with all her being she couldn't help the expression of betrayal cross her features. With a final jolt her body went limp within his arms and the life escaped her eyes.

Scrunching his eyebrows he shook the body within his arms. "Kagome?"

His whispered prayer of her name fell upon a silent room. A room that was filled with so many memories, all corrupted by a simple lie from a third party. Growling in anger at the now dead miko he set her down and swiped three more times at her abdomen. If she was dead already, he was going to be sure. Even if it was the last thing he did, he would find out who the father was.

Slashes made on her delicate skin, he dipped down to take a long whiff of her now exposed entrails of her reproductive organs.

His eyes widened in maniacal glee. Leaning over her to lock eyes with her dead ones he grinned, "It's mine. I'm going to be a father."

Stroking her cheek he continued to smile as he repeated a mantra of hope as he gazed at her corpse. "You're mine. You can't leave me anymore. We can be together forever now. You're mine. You can't leave me anymore. We can be together forever now. You're mine. . ."

His mind finally released of the horrifying images Inuyasha jolted in bed. The room was dark but he could see around him. Nothing seemed to be out of order. Feeling something brush against him, he turned his head with panicked eyes toward the slumbering miko at his side.

Wasn't that a lovely image? You were so happy with your new family.

'Get the fuck away from me! And stay away from my Kagome!'

Ah, yes. Your Kagome. The same Kagome that you'll kill. The voiced cackled as it started fading away, That I'll kill.

The voice gone from his mind once again Inuyasha was now left to his own musings. Glancing down at the woman at his side that was now snuggling against him for warmth to escape the cool night air, realization came upon him. Whispering frightened words that fell upon deaf ears of the night he prayed to god he was wrong. "My youkai. . . it's the voice. . . I'm losing control of my youkai. . . and will kill Kagome because of it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"And who are you supposed to be?"

Kouga whipped around to look at the disguised tiger demon. Tilting his head the wolf demon crossed his arms, "Shouldn't that be my question?"

"What are you doing in Kag's office?"

"Kag? Where do you get off calling Kagome by a nickname?"

Guy narrowed his eyes, "You're a demon."

Kouga rolled his eyes, "And you state the obvious."

"What I want to know is why there is a demon in Kag's office."

"I could ask you the same question."

Studying him suspiciously Guy answered, "I'm an old friend of hers."

The wolf demon grinned, "Trust me, I'm a much older friend."

"I'm detective Guy Donhue. I'm here to question Kag on the murder of Hojo Akitoki. So if you don't mind, please tell me where she is."

Kouga raised his brows, "Murder? How the hell did Kagome get wrapped up in a murder?"

"If you don't tell me where she is I'll have you arrested for obstruction of justice."

The wolf demon laughed at that, "You're kidding right? 'Obstruction of justice?' Do cops actually use that line? Look kid, I know for a fact that you can't arrest me for withholding information that I don't have."

Guy groaned and sat down in a chair at the side of room, "You're an attorney aren't you?"

Kouga smirked, "Yup. And now that I know you're here to question Kagome I should be present for the questioning. Can't have to manipulating a client and a very good friend of mine."

Guy shook his head, "That won't be necessary. This isn't a normal case. According to human higher ups they assume it's just a robbery case that went terribly wrong. This is more a hush hush Underground police investigation."

"Underground? What does Kagome have to do with the Underground?"

The tiger demon was the one to smirk this time, "You know I can't disclose that kind of information. For all I know you're the murderer looking for Kag and just pretending to be her friend."

Kouga glared at the other demon, "Has anyone ever told you how annoying you are?"

"Thousands of times." Both demons turned their attention toward the door to see a cheerful Kagome walking in. "What can I help you boys with today?"

The wolf demon smiled at the woman and gestured toward the papers he held in his hand, "I still have some documents I have to go over with you Kagome. You're cop friend here is convinced I'm the murderer."

Lifting an eyebrow she made her way around her desk, "Kouga may be a lot of things but murderer isn't one of them. What are you here for Guy?"

"I told you I would come in for questioning."

A saddened look came across her face as she thought back to the friend she lost only days ago. "C-could we do that later? Around eleven?"

"Eleven? Why eleven?"

"I was hoping you could come with me to Hojo's funeral. It's not going to be very long. . . Probably take your lunch brea-"

"I'll be there." Guy smiled reassuringly toward the miko and waved good-bye as he left the office.

Sitting down in the chair in front of her desk Kouga leaned forward, "So what's his story?"

Kagome smiled, "No story. Just a really good friend that helped me out when my miko powers were being revealed."

"So he knows?"

"To an extent. He knows I'm a miko and that for some unexplainable reason I know the inner circle of the strongest demons of the Underground. What he doesn't know is about densetsu no miko and all that stuff."

"Strongest demons? Who? Us?"

She shrugged as she set about clearing her desk of piled up paper work from the day before. "Who else would it be? It's not like I ran around making high connections with dangerous demons while I was alone."

"Does he know he's kept in the dark about certain things?"

"I'm sure he does. . . he just doesn't say anything so as not to trouble me. I think he knows I can't tell him, so he's not pressuring me by asking."

Kouga smiled, "He cares a lot for you."

Kagome chuckled, "Yeah, or he's so dense that he doesn't realize that there is something else going on besides Hojo's murder and the price that's been placed upon my head in the Underground."

Kouga swung his chair around to sit next to her and laid out the documents before her to look over. "I heard it was a price on your soul."

"Soul. Head. What's the difference? Either way I'm dead right?"

"It's a fairly large sum of money. Any low demon would turn you over in an instant, with the kind of money that's been offered."

Smiling she signed the line that he pointed to on the paper, "Should I be worried about you Kouga?"

"Nah. I like you. Kinda want to keep you around here alive. Also, wouldn't want dog turd to mope around like he did for so long."

"Mope around?"

"Yeah. Pining for his beloved Kagome. Really pathetic if you ask me."

She shook her head chuckling, "Can't really imagine Inuyasha as the type to pine, but if you say so I guess it's true."

"Without a doubt. Oh, by the way. Where were you two yesterday? Your absence kind of set me back a day."

Kagome winced at that, "Sorry. We were testing this arrow theory."

"Arrow theory? Did it work?"

Nodding she signed another line, "Yeah, and maybe all too well."

"So what did it prove?"

Glancing up at him she sighed, "It proved I was right, always a good thing to be when concerning Inuyasha."

The wolf demon shook his head smiling, "You guys still fight don't ya?"

"Yeah, but in my defense Inuyasha always starts it."

"For some reason Kagome, I doubt that." He flipped the document over and pointed to the final line. "So, what's this talk about a funeral?"

Signing and dating the document Kagome set down the pen and leaned back in her chair. "It was my best friend."

"I'm sorry." He said sincerely as he held her forearm in a comforting manner.

"He. . . He was murdered. . . I was the one who found the body."

His eyes widened as he stared at her, "Oh God. Are you okay?"

She closing her eyes and nodded, "Yeah, I guess."

"You're stronger than I remember."

A questioning look on her face she locked eyes with Kouga, "What do you mean?"

"You've been all smiles these days. Cracking jokes and trying to make everyone's day a little less boring. I would have never known you lost a close friend. You don't let anyone see your pain because you're afraid of troubling them with it."

She smiled sadly, "Why does it seem like the world knows me better than I know myself? . . . It's just. . . I've been keeping myself busy so I wouldn't have to think about him gone. . . Then again, there's so much happening at once that I don't have time to think about it."

"Have you had time to mourn?"

Her mind flashed back to two nights ago, smiling at the memory of Inuyasha's comforting embrace she glanced at Kouga and nodded. "Yeah. I did. . . and luckily I wasn't alone."

Kouga contemplated her words for a moment and rolled up the document she finished signing. Getting up from his seat he made his way toward the door. "That's the end of the legal matters with you and me Kagome."

"Then I guess I'll be seeing you around. Don't be a stranger."

Kouga smirked, "If I have any say in the matter I won't be." Opening the door he glanced back for second and called over his shoulder. "Kagome?"

"Yeah?"

"Luck has nothing to do with you not being alone." With that he left with a pensive Kagome left in his wake.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The hanyou glared at his phone, something he had been doing for the past half hour. Should she call her?

Reaching for the receiver he picked it up only to set it down with a heavy sigh soon afterwards. Maybe he should go down and see her in person. . . this hardly seemed like a topic to be discussed over the phone. . .

Glaring at the phone a moment longer he reached for it once again, until he was interrupted by a person at the door.

"The hell are you doing here dog boy?"

Inuyasha moved his glare from the phone toward the arrogant wolf demon that stood in his doorway. "It's my office."

"I know that moron. But it's eleven thirty." Waltzing in the dog demon's office Kouga sat down comfortably in the seat in front of the desk.

"Well I don't know how the law offices of Senshi, Idiot, and Half-Wit work, but in the real world people clock in for a good eight hours. I don't just randomly leave in the middle of the day you know."

"Yes you do. Anyways, why the hell aren't you with Kagome?'

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about? It's not like we're joined at the hip or anything, we're not hanging off each other all the time you know."

"Yes you dare." Hearing the bank CEO growl Kouga sighed, "I'm talking about the funeral. Why didn't you go with her?"

"Funeral? What funeral? Whose funeral?"

"I don't know the guy but Kagome said it was a Hoji or something like that."

"Hoji?. . . Wait, Hojo?"

"Yeah! That was it. Why didn't you go with her?"

Inuyasha stood up from his seat, "She went to the funeral! Alone!"

Shaking his head the wolf demon expressed confusion across his face. "No. The detective friend of Kagome is going with her."

Calming down, knowing that there was someone with her to protect her in the case of danger Inuyasha sat down. "She went with Guy?"

"She didn't tell you?"

"No. . . I can't believe she went with someone else."

Kouga stood up to walk around the desk to clap his long time friend and even longer time rival on the back. "Don't take it the wrong way man. She going to the funeral with someone else, not the prom."

"Yeah I guess. . ." Thinking it over he glanced up at the wolf demon, "You know, she went to the prom with someone else."

Smirking Kouga shook his head, "You're hopeless, you know that?"

Inuyasha sighed, "I just didn't think she would go at all."

"To prom?"

He glared at Kouga, "To the funeral, dumbass."

Making his way back to his seat he answered, "Why wouldn't she? Kagome said he was her best friend. I don't know about you, but to me it seems like a best friendly type to obligation to go to the funeral."

"No, you don't get it. The body that's at that funeral isn't the body of Hobo Akihiko."

"You're right. Because it's the body of Hojo Akitoki."

Breathing out loudly Inuyasha shook his head, "Why the hell is it so hard to remember that guy's name? . . . But that's not it. Guy and I were looking over the evidence on Monday and we realized that the body that the Underground control team took to the morgue isn't Joho's."

"Hojo."

"Yeah. Well, it was replaced by someone else's. Some kind of spell was used to make the face look like his."

"Why the hell would someone want a human's body?"

"We think it's a possible necromancer, kind of like Kagura."

Kouga angered at the name, still remembering how his clan was slaughtered by the wind demon. "So what? You think someone's going to use the guy's body? For what?"

"I don't know, but from what I can figure out it has to be to get at Kagome."

"Oh, I get it. Whoever switched the bodies is trying to get his hands on our girl's soul. Hefty price on that little item."

Inuyasha growled, "'Our girl'?"

Rolling his eyes he raised his hands in surrender, "Our girl. Your girl, what's the difference? All I know is that we need to keep that girl safe. From her track record, she's a magnet for trouble."

"Don't I know it."

"You sure she's safe with this Donohue guy?"

"Yeah. He's the reason why she's been safer for the past five years."

Kouga winced at that, "Found herself another protector huh?"

"I guess so."

"But you can't hold that against her. She didn't have any memory of you for those five years. And you know how she is. She's the type of girl people just gravitate toward and ends up wanting to protect. . . or kill her apparently."

"Yeah." Inuyasha sighed looking away from him.

"Are you worried that she might be falling for Donohue?"

"Nah. He's married."

Kouga was taken aback. "Oh."

Inuyasha nodded, "Yeah, oh."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The bone chilling silence of the room crept up her spine as she quietly sat along with everyone else, her legs folded neatly below her. The smell of incense filling her nose and brought back memories of past a situation like this. Feeling the tapping on her shoulder she turned toward the man that had accompanied her and nodded. Facing the alter once more she closed her eyes, brought her palms together in front of her in prayer and bowed. With that she rose following him out the shoji doors to lead outside. Passing by the entrance she noticed the family and bowed deeply toward them; they returned the bow respectfully and sorrowfully. Ten or fifteen meters away he turned toward her in concern, "Are you okay Kagome?"

Looking up at her friend she nodded numbly, "I. . . I think so. It's just. . ."

"Not his body?"

Nodding once again she continued walking, now in pace with Guy.

"Do you want a ride back to your office? It's one thirty, already a half hour later than when you said you would be back."

"Thanks Guy."

He smiled and gestured toward his car, "Anytime Kagome."

"Not just about the ride. About everything today. . . being here with me for this. For letting me go through the questioning before the ceremony. . . I. . . I don't think I could deal with it right now."

"We'll find his real body Kagome."

She nodded looking away from him to stare out the window.

"Can I ask you a question Kagome?"

"Nothing has ever stopped you before."

"Kagome. . ."

Sighing she glanced over at him then turned back toward the window. "What is it?"

Stopping at a traffic light he tapped on the steering wheel in contemplation then went on with his question. "Why didn't you take Inuyasha?"

"He's never met Hojo. . . wait, he has. . . but only briefly."

"But I don't know Hojo that well either. Sure, we said our friendly 'hello's. . ."

"Yeah. . . I know, but. . . Hojo was part of my life when Inuyasha wasn't around."

Lapsing into silence until pulling up to Touken Bank building, Guy faced her. "We're here."

"Thank you. . . for coming with me."

He sighed leaning against the steering wheel, "You know Inuyasha's going to be upset."

"Why?"

"Why would he be upset? Isn't it obvious? He's obviously in love with you. He'd want to be there for you during such an emotional time."

Unbuckling her seatbelt she reached for the door handle, "He'll just have to deal with knowing that I had to pay respects to dead friend instead of tending to his emotional needs of having to be needed."

"Kagome!" He was unable to say more to her for she closed the car door and made her way toward the building.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Good night Kagome-kun."

Looking up from the mess of papers, she smiled as she recognized her American co-worker. "Heading home Mr. Williams?"

"You really don't have to put in late nights Kagome-kun." He sighed while leaning against the doorframe.

"After missing work yesterday and taking a long lunch today, I can't afford to slack off anymore."

"You were sick yesterday, and today had to attend a funeral. Don't worry about work so much. A young woman such as yourself should have a life outside of work."

She smiled, "Don't worry, I have a life outside of these four walls. Now, you should hurry home or your wife will worry."

"Well I'll see you tomorrow then Kagome-kun."

She waved to the man as he left, "Good night Mr. Williams."

Sighing and rubbing at her eyes Kagome glanced at the only light source that was on, her desk lamp. Taking a stray pencil she used it put her hair into a bun and away from her face. Staring down at the papers in front of her she grabbed another pencil and began fiddling with the numbers. Two hours later and well past the time she was supposed to have left she set the pencil down from her aching hands. "God. I'm never going to get done. I should just take this home with me to work on."

"Mr. Williams is assigning you homework now?"

Looking up she spotted the inu hanyou and smiled, "Hey there."

"'Hey' yourself. It's eleven o'clock Kagome. Give it a rest." Coming around the desk to stand next to her he swung her chair away from the desk and papers. "Let's go home Kagome."

"But I still have so much work to do."

Ignoring her comment he pushed the rolling chair toward the door and was only stopped when Kagome set her feet on either side of the doorframe. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Apparently preventing you from rolling me all the way home. I have work to do Inuyasha." Standing from the chair she walked back to her desk to gather the papers preparing them to take home with her.

"You're not actually going to take that with you right?"

"I have to. I took a day off yesterday and a long lunch."

Shaking his head he grabbed the papers from her hand and dropped them on the desk. "You're not taking it with you. If I knew you would be insane about work the next day I would have never let you take yesterday off."

"We met a goddess yesterday who happened to be your long lost sister. It was productive."

"I think I was the one that was long lost, not her." Getting the blazer that rested on the back of her chair and gesturing for her to get her brief-case like bag he turned the desk lamp off.

"I can't see a thing Inuyasha!"

"I can." She felt a gentle clawed hand hold hers as it led her around the office and down the darkened hall to the elevator. Once the doors to the elevator opened light streamed through forcing Kagome to blink to adjust her eyes. Stepping in she sighed and leaned again the cool walls.

"Kouga told me about Hojo's funeral. . ."

Nodding she opened her palms before her to study them. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

Surprised by his answer she looked up at him, "What are you sorry for?"

"Not being there for you. . . Making your life so much more complicated when you already had a lot of other things happening in your life."

She smiled, "You, Inuyasha, are the only person that I allow and welcome to complicate my life."

"I'm still sorry I wasn't there with you during the funeral."

"I didn't ask you to be."

He nodded.

Waiting for a stronger response Kagome stared at him. When not getting it she sighed, "You're not going to ask why?"

He shook his head.

"So it doesn't bother you that I didn't?"

He shrugged.

"Are you going to give me more than a body gesture or we going to keep playing charades?"

The doors slid open as they reached the basement floor and he led her toward his car. "I'm sure you have your reasons for not having asked me."

Slipping into the passenger side she gazed at him as he peeled the car out of the garage. "You know, Guy was completely convinced you would be angry. . . or at least hurt because of it. I guess you proved him wrong."

"I may not be angry but I am slightly hurt."

She scrunched her brows, "You are? You have no reason to be, you know that right? This wasn't about choosing someone over you, because that's not what I did."

"I know."

"Then what are you hurt about?"

He shrugged, "It's not all that important anyways. You have enough to deal with."

Taking in his response she lashed out and tugged on his arm, forcing him to jerk the steering wheel. Swerving out of a way of a car he quickly pulled to the side of the road and roared at Kagome, "The hell is wrong with you! You nearly got us killed! Actually, I would have lived and you would have died! Are you out of your mind!"

She glared at him, unfazed by the near-death car accident his hanyou reflexes had dodged only by a hair. "You can't dump that kind of thing on me. 'I'm hurt, but I'm not going to tell you because you have other crap to deal with.'"

"Well you do."

Shaking her head vigorously she yelled at him, "Look, even if I have the weight of my world on my shoulders I will always care about you first! And if something I did hurt you I am not about to stand by and not know what I've done!"

Taken aback at her outburst he smiled, "But you do have the weight of the world on you shoulders, you are the legendary priestess."

"It doesn't matter. Nothing matters without you." She whispered and looked out the front window, she stared at the traffic light and the cars that rushed past them as the light turned green.

"You put a lot of pressure on a guy. The world not mattering without me and all."

She continued to stare at the lights of the night city, "Please just tell me what I did to hurt you."

He sighed, "It's not anything you did. It's more what you didn't do."

"What I didn't do?"

"Whenever you're going through something and you need someone, you seek someone that's not me for comfort. . . I don't know, maybe I'm being a kid, but it seems like you don't want me to be there."

She scrunched her brows. "It's just. . . I. . . you. . . Let me put it this way: when I knew you as Touken I went to you with my problems didn't I?"

He smiled at the memories of her childhood, "Yeah."

"Well, from what I can remember you really weren't emotionally open in the feudal era. . . I couldn't exactly go to you for any of my problems, and I kind of got used to you like that."

Inuyasha stared at her for a moment then turned to look forward again. Putting the car in drive he pulled out onto the street to continue on their way home. After a silent moment he spoke, "Don't lie to me."

She sputtered, "L-lying? I tell you about what I feel and you say that I'm lying?"

"That's not the reason why you don't come to me with your problems."

He pulled up the house and made quick work of shutting off the engine and making his way toward the front door.

Getting out of the car and stumbling slightly on the walk way she chased after him. "Don't walk away from me Inuyasha!"

He sighed and turned toward her. Opening and holding the door for her he waved her inside. "I'm not walking away, I'm just walking ahead."

Glaring at him she stomped past him to make her way toward her room. He growled walking behind her, "Now you're the one that's walking away."

Deepening her voiced she mocked him, "I'm not walking away, I'm just walking ahead."

Inuyasha tilted his head, "I do not sound like that."

Slamming her door open she plopped down on the bed.

He glared at her, "I don't see what you're mad about. Shouldn't I be in the pissy mood? You chose a guy over me, I'm the guy you're supposedly in love with."

She felt the slap of his words. "Supposedly in love with?"

His blood calmed at the hurt expression on her face. "You know that's not what I meant. . . maybe I was wrong before. I am jealous. You chose someone over me. You say that it wasn't what you did, but in the end it was." He sighed and allowed his concealing spell to fade away and show his half demon form, "I know I shouldn't feel that way. That I have no right to. You went to a funeral, not a damn picnic."

She ducked her head at his words. Her bangs hid her face as she whispered out her next words, "I lived without you for so long."

His dog-ears perked up trying to catch her barely heard whisper. "What did you just say?"

She whipped her head up with teary eyes and yelled, "I lived without you for so long! I didn't even know it! And. . . I was an empty shell. . . I didn't respond to the world! Sure, I kept up my cheerful front but I felt something was always missing."

He crouched down in front of her looking into her expressive gray blue eyes, "I'm here now. I'm never going to let you feel that again."

"I know you won't. . . but I have to know that I can go through things without you too."

Inuyasha pulled back from her in shock, "What?"

She gulped and looked away, "I don't know if I can be alone anymore."

"And you want to be alone?"

"I. . . I can't live without you. I don't need to seek you out when I need you emotionally because you're always there. . . and I depend on you more and more as time goes on."

"And that's a bad thing?" He stood up and turned away from her but didn't step any further away.

She was about to say something in response but she took in a deep breath trying to calm her nerves. Then she answered, "I don't know."

Still facing away from her he spoke up, "You're not alone in that thought."

Kagome lifted her head to stare at the curtain of white hair that stood before her, "I went through hell as a kid. Who the hell wanted a hanyou in their village? The humans were scared of me. The demons looked at me as weak and unworthy of my demon blood. I wasn't accepted anywhere. . . I ran into Kikyou during my years of solitude, ran into her the first time at the Goshinboku. I was drawn to her, well. . . apparently I was drawn to a tree that held your soul. . . but Kikyou didn't run from me. She knew she could purify me if she wanted, so she wasn't scared. Then everything happened and I was pinned to the tree. When I woke up you were there and when you pulled the arrow and freed me. . . I swore to never trust anyone ever again. But you were so persistent and then, without me realizing it, I need you by my side forever. . . Then, just like that, you were gone from my life."

He turned around to stare at her as if he hadn't seen her in years. "I didn't know how to live without you."

She stared at him with disbelief and confusion, "But you did live without me, and look what you've become. You're successful, stable, and doing well without me."

"I'm where I am today, and have all that I have because I held onto the hope that I would see you once again. I would never have all this without you." Shrugging Inuyasha walked toward the door throwing a loose comment behind him, "I can't live without knowing that I will be able to see you once again."

As his figure disappeared from view she stared dumbfounded, "Inuyasha. . ."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: What an unproductive chapter. . . not much happened, but with everything that was said in the last chapter I had to answer a few questions that I left in the air. Wasn't this chapter badly written? Oh god. . .Also, I must stir turmoil in Inu and Kag's life because they wouldn't be them without a little bit of trouble right? Anyways, I'm more for human emotion and interactions with other instead of the whole action sequence. Also, I have realized that maybe, my strong point in writing might be in gore. . . my goodness. . .

To the Reviewers:

I haven't done this in a while have I? Well, I've decided to cut my losses and just start from the people that reviewed since the last chapter came out! I'm very sorry to all the other reviewers but don't worry I read every one of them and appreciate each one!

kiki tear- I'm so sorry I made you cry.

Yoshi: Yes I paired Sess with Rin. When I first writing the story it seemed okay, but now I realize how pedophilic that is. . .eww. . . but they won't split, see I made it perfectly legal by making her body be that of a 25 year old. . . and she's over five hundred. . .I thought it would be okay

inuhpgirl: No that was not the end of the story. . . a lot of people missed that. . .

NekoReiBaka: lol, u don't have to change the color that she uses her miko powers with. . . but I found it funny that you said u would change it in ur next story

cherryblossom318: grins and I still have a ways to go

Vicky: also one of my favorite chapters :) (chapter15 that is. . .)

DarkMoon1: I was bashing my head against the wall to make the story that way. I personally like it when stories make sense to the canon o

PinkSprinkl3s: lol, thank you for giving my story with a very bad summary a chance! I plan to change that one day. . . maybe someone could write me a good one? anyways, all those questions you had? well, you'll have to wait! sorry. . .

Fanficluv7Inu: Thank you for the list of reasons why you like my fic! Tells me what I'm doing right (and where I need to make better. . . like grammar. . . uh. . .)

TriggerHappyBibliphile: Well that was an altering of a legend, but not an actual legend. First of all Tsukiyomi and Wakahirume never got together. I combined about five different legends some loose facts about spirits and gods and tied the manga/anime into it. . . or the legend into the manga/anime. Oh and yay for me making you cry! oh dear. . .

SilverontheRose: I would never trash your review! I'm so happy you liked it! My goodness, you even used the word ecstatic! Yes, and it will take a while to get used to Inuyasha being a god. . . I wrote it and it takes me a while to adjust. . .

silveryuki06: Yes, much planning went on. I'm glad there are readers out there that appreciate the amount of thought and planning that went into writing this story. . . my goodness, I'm even getting confused by the complexity (yet, it's still simple in my mind. . .)

Imperial Angel: I can't believe the amount of people that read author's notes! You are welcome to change the color of her spiritual powers! Don't listen to me, I'm just being stupid. . . oh and your question on Susanowo: no he was no reincarnated. . . he was just involved several of the actual myths that I based this on! Yes, he was just a god that caused more trouble than he was worth. . .

Thanks for reviewing! Tahitianbabe, Makaya-love, connor smith, Earthbrat, Jessica Rabit (love the name), animemistress419, Inuyashalover1o1, junyortrakr, HarmonyBunny1718, SakuraBlossom-Cilla-85, DrakeClawfang, MikoKagomeArcher, Lake of Fire, and dieforinuyasha!

Until next time! (And possibly in a new Inuyasha fic?) Oh! **AND THIS IS NOT THE END OF THIS STORY**, more people are getting confused by this than I expected. . .

Summary of my new fic: Times are in turmoil in the four lands. Kagome, princess of one of the four lands, is kidnapped by the Lord of the Southern Lands. When suddenly, a rogue fighter comes to rescue her to take her back to her intended. Going along with it she follows the silver-haired, dog-eared, half demon to her 'intended.' Life for her and rogue fighter cross once more after they part, and are sent on a adventure to bring peace back to the lands.

Tell me what you guys think! Click that button and review! o . . . please?


	17. Stay Close

1Author Notes: I'm really the worst fanfic author in the world aren't I? I rarely update, and when I do I always feel like I'm doing a half assed job. . . this is the first chapter of the year, and hopefully not the last. . . well, I don't want to keep you from this chapter. . . enjoy the chappie!

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and company doesn't belong to me nor do I make money off of them. . . and I have realized that disclaimers are just a pain in the ass.

". . ." dialogue

'. . .' thoughts

**Stay Close**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

It's hard walking up to someone and admitting you were wrong. It's even harder when you and the other person are the most stubborn people to walk the earth. Then again, that's probably one of the reasons why you fell in love with the guy right?

Kagome quietly stepped down the stairs after pondering in her room for a good two hours. She needed to gather herself, and she knew Inuyasha did as well. Peeking around the corner she saw him seated in the living room doing the furthest thing from pondering about their relationship: watching a game show on tv. Eyebrow twitching she went up behind him, crossed her arms, and tapped her foot.

"What did I do now?" He leaned his head back on the couch to look at Kagome so that she looked upside down to him.

Huffing she went around the couch and sat down roughly next to him. "I was worried about how it was going to be between us. If there even was an 'us' to refer to and you're down here watching the idiot box!"

He glanced at her for a moment, closed his eyes and smiled as he leaned his head to rest upon her shoulder. "There will always be an 'us' to refer to. We had a fight, all couples do. And judging by our track record, we always will."

She sighed, "I guess. . . although that is a bit disturbing to think I'll always be fighting with you. Why can't we have been those couples that just loves each other and never fights?"

He laughed, "And what? Be boring as hell?"

"It'll be a nice break from our lives at least."

"I've had a long enough break while I waited for you to be born, then grow up. In all the years I've lived I still haven't found anyone that could piss me off the way you do."

This time it was Kagome that let out the laugh, "I'm glad you haven't replaced me."

"I told you I couldn't live without you." He reached out to hold her hand, turning it over within his. "Are you okay with that though? A possessive half demon dependent on you forever?"

She nodded gently, "If you can deal with an emotional mess of a miko I think we'll be just fine."

"Another chapter of Kagome and Inuyasha romance drama chronicles has come to a close."

"Knowing us, the next one will come up with in the hour."

Inuyasha smirked as he opened his eyes to look at the tv, "I don't doubt-" Bolting up from his place leaning against Kagome he stared at the tv with pure horror across his face. "Holy shit."

Startled she back off at his sudden movement, "What?" Following his line of vision she saw that an emergency news program had cut into the game show programming. Images of a burning apartment building in uptown Tokyo were shown along with words such as 'bomb' and 'attack' were thrown about.

Quickly making his way off the couch to grab a coat and his keys he ran toward the door. Kagome trailed behind him, shoving her feet in sneakers and pulling on a coat as well. "Inuyasha! Where are you going! What's going on?"

Both within the car, he peeled out of the long driveway in record time. Speeding down the streets he didn't even glance at her as he gripped the steering wheel. His knuckles turning white and his teeth bared, he growled out. "The building on fire. That's Miroku and Sango's building."

Kagome's eyes widened as she took in a horrified gasp of breath. "Oh God."

No more words were exchanged as Inuyasha drove like a madman through the city streets of Tokyo.

Upon the arriving at the scene of the fire that was still raging out of control, Inuyasha rushed out of the car to stand in front of the building next to the firefighters. Kagome quickly made her way up to him and stared with frightened eyes at the building. "Are. . . are they in there?"

He tilted his head upward, sniffed, and growled. "I can't be positive. I can't fucking smell anything through the smoke." Looking down at her he spoke in all seriousness. "I don't want you to go anywhere got that? Stay with the crowd, and with police or firefighters close by you."

Confusion ran across her face. "What? What are you talking about?"

He turned away from her. "Just listen to what I say Kagome. Don't move." With that he sprinted toward the building. Everyone had been staring at the building, no one saw the hanyou make his way into the building.

Her eyes widened as she froze in place for a beat, then she let out a loud: "Inuyasha!"

As she continued to yell out his name a police officer came up behind her, "Miss, please calm down. You panicking is not going to help anyone. Come with me and we'll figure out if the person you're looking has gotten out yet or not."

She nodded, remembering what Inuyasha said. Police, she should stick with them. No matter what evils may crawl around human officials in groups had to still be reliable. Walking with the policeman she kept her head turned to stare at the building. If Inuyasha didn't make it out of there what would she do? Had she just lost three very important people in her life all in one night?

Coming to the edge of the crowd and the cop cars, the policeman addressed her once again. "Now, miss, could you tell me the name of the person you're looking for?"

Her head still turned she nodded numbly. "Friends of mine. . . Houshi Miroku and Taijiya Sango."

"What about Touken Inuyasha?"

She whipped her head toward the man and gasped the moment she recognized him. "Oh my God."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Inuyasha leapt up the stairwell in three seconds flat to find himself at the top floor. Kicking away the burning door he charged into the flames without much precaution. "Miroku! Sango! I better not fucking find you guys dead!"

He ran about frantically, from room to room. So far, there were no signs of corpses but also no signs of the living or a rapid escape. Debris littered the floor to every corner of the room and everything was ablaze. Even with his half demon composition he was having an extremely difficult time being in here. He made it back to the hall trying to make it back to the stairs when suddenly a steel beam fell from the ceiling. He had been lucky to be away from the beam enough to suffer the full blow, but it had landed on his right leg. He roared out in pain as the scalding steel burned his skin and the weight of it broke the lower bones clean in two.

Inuyasha pushed off the steel and tried to stand balancing on his one good leg. "Crap. How the hell did I get myself into these kinds of messes."

The building was caving in and it seemed everyone had been safely evacuated. He could almost kick himself for being so worried about his friends and trying play hero, well, he would kick himself if it wasn't for his low disabled leg. Hopping toward the stairwell he noticed that the stairs had collapsed for good five floors below, this was not the way to go. Glancing upward he decided that the only option he was the roof access. Climbing the stairs as quickly as his one leg would allow he slammed himself through the roof access door to be met with the strong gust of the city air. He sighed unconsciously at the relief the breeze brought to his overheated body. Pulling himself out of his momentary break he realized this was not the moment to calm down. Going to the edge of the building he saw it as the only way down for him.

"Twenty-two floors. . . I guess it could be worse." He steadied himself of the ledge and looked down. He was in luck, the smoke from the fire blocked him from the view of the crowd on the ground. If he did this right, he'd land amongst array of people and the crowd would assume he jumped from a lower level without them noticing. They might even help setting his broken leg before it healed wrong.

Searching the crowd for a certain raven-haired girl he couldn't find her. He brows furrowed, "Where the hell did that wench go?"

He shook his head. This was not the time for being angry with her. He needed to save his ass, find hers, then yell at her. Without another thought he leapt off the building.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Despite the warning Inuyasha gave him Kagome lip trembled as tears welled in her eyes. Unable to contain herself any longer she flung herself in the waiting arms of the police officer. "Hojo!"

Cold arms wrapped around her as he took in a deep breath as his nose was imbedded in her hair. She was beside herself. How do you greet the best friend that died? She allowed herself to remain in her bubble, an imaginary world where Hojo was still alive and there weren't any demons out there trying to hunt her down. But the one to burst the protective bubble was Hojo himself.

"I don't have much time Kagome." She felt the arms drop away from her and step away as he stared into her eyes to keep her attention. "I'm dead, there is nothing that's going to change that. I need for you to listen carefully, there is only so long before I can do something without him noticing that I'm not doing his will."

"Him? What are you talking about Hojo?" Then it all clicked and sadness spread across her face, "You're the walking dead. . . just like Kikyou was."

He nodded, "My soul has already passed on to wherever souls go when the body dies. He stole my corpse and brought my body back. . . but you know that all I have in this body is just memories right?"

She tilted her head to look at the ground, "So I've been told. The memories of a life remains with the body forever."

"I can't go on like this Kagome. This isn't a second chance at life. Hojo is dead. . . I'm. . . I'm not sure what I am. I don't live to see the future, I live in the present only thinking about the past. I'm not even really living." Suddenly he winced and cradled the side of his head.

Kagome was next to him in a second. "What's wrong? Are you in pain?"

"No, I'm having a surprising vision of pleasant bunnies. . . of course I'm in pain!"

She chuckled in nervousness, "Even if you're only his memories, you're still just like Hojo."

The Hojo-look-alike stared at her in sadness, "He sent me to come capture you and take you to him."

"Who?"

"I-I'm not allowed to say. He put a censoring spell on me, I can't say his name."

She stared at him frantically, "How about clues?"

He shook his head, "No. We don't have time for charades. You have to kill me now Kagome."

Her eyes widened, "W-What? Kill you? For what?"

"It's only a matter of minutes before he realizes I'm not carrying out his plans. The moment he feels that I'm disobeying him he'll take over control of my body. I won't be able to help myself from taking you to him."

Turning away from him she trembled, "You can't ask me to do that!"

Grabbing her upper arm he tugged her to face him once again, "If you don't destroy this hollow shell of a body now, I'll come after you later on."

"But-"

"Don't let me suffer like this!" He embraced her once again, "I know it's selfish of me to ask you to kill the image of your best friend, but if you don't. . . I'm miserable Kagome, I'm only a whisper of what a person is. . . I'm only a clump of memories that don't belong to me, I'm made of dirt and bones."

There wasn't anything she could say to that so she held him tighter, "I love you Hojo, I don't know what my life would have been like without you in it."

He smiled and nodded, "You still my girl?"

She laughed at that as she controlled her sobs and stepped away from him. After he had revealed himself to be gay they both went through a difficult time, unsure if even their friendship would last. At one point he asked her that question in all sincerity and she answered with the same response she gave him from then on. "I'll always be your girl, as long as you're still my girl too."

Hojo reached out and took her left hand, "Thank you for this Kagome."

She wiped away a lone tear that escaped her eyes, "I hope you find peace."

He smiled as he felt the searing heat of her miko energy course from her hand to his entire body. "I already have."

With a quick flash of light that went unnoticed by the crowd around her Hojo was gone, and in his place was a pile of clay, dirt, and bones.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tumbling into the crowd no one really noticed, except for a paramedic that stood by just in case someone that was injured was found. And by the looks of Inuyasha the paramedic was in injury heaven.

"Let me help you sir."

Inuyasha growled "Look pal, I would have considered it before but I really need to be going."

The man raised a brow and tugged the hanyou to sit in on the ambulance truck. "You're leg is broken and charred, and I'm assuming you breathed in some of that smoke."

The half demon snarled as he tried to get back up but was pushed back down easily by the man.

"I'm sure whatever you're rushing off to is not worth your health, so hold still while I at least treat that messed up leg of yours."

"Whoa, I don't know where you get off ordering me around, but trust me, she's worth my health."

"Was she in the fire as well?"

Inuyasha shook his head and the man sighed as he went about treating Inuyasha's leg, "That's great and all that you're in love with the girl, but you're not about to lose a leg for her."

Grumbling for a good five minutes the man deftly completed his job and stood up to face the annoyed hanyou. "I finished your leg, but I really recommend you get yourself to a hospital."

Rolling his eyes Inuyasha limped away, but managed to throw a word of thanks at the diligent paramedic as he made his way through the crowd in search of Kagome. Some where within the hoards of people he felt someone grab onto his shoulder. Spinning around to see who it was, being that his sense of smell was still hindered, he was ecstatic to see that it was the missing couple. "Miroku! Sango!"

Without much thought he took both into a firm embrace at the same time, surprising all three parties. Quickly letting them go, blushing, and trying to pass on the sudden display of emotion as a momentary lapse in sanity.

Miroku smiled and clapped the hanyou on the shoulder, "It's great to see you too."

"I thought you were dead. How the hell did you get out of there?"

Sango glanced toward the building then held onto Miroku's arm a little tighter, "We just happened to have been out for dinner tonight. I can't imagine what would have happened if we had been in there at the time. . . from what the police have been saying the bomb was set in our apartment. . . I'm just happy that this idiot finally took me out to dinner, and we were lucky enough for it to happen on this night."

Inuyasha sighed in relief, "Is anyone else hurt?"

Miroku shook his head, "Thankfully the explosion was mostly isolated within our apartment, the only thing that spread was the fire. And being that we have the top floor, everyone had the opportunity to get out before the fire could block their path." He tilted his head and observed Inuyasha's bandaged up leg, "My question is how on Earth you got hurt when no one else did."

"Keh." He wasn't about to confess that he made the rash decision of running into the flame-engulfed building thinking that his long time friends had been in danger.

Sango searched around the nearby people, "Where's Kagome? Did you leave her at home?"

"Crap!" Inuyasha's swept the crowd for the girl. "No, I brought her here and lost sight of her when I went in the building. . . Look, you guys head over to my house and I'll meet you there after finding Kagome."

"Your house? Why are we going there?" Sango questioned as she smiled slightly at Inuyasha's worrisome composure of finding the lost girl.

Scrunching his brows he looked at the demon slayer, "Your apartment was just bombed, you really don't have any where else to go."

"Hey, don't go thinking you're the only one with more than one property in Tokyo. We can go to the apartment we have that's further out of the city."

Miroku shook his head, "We're better off at Inuyasha's place. I fear that in his old age Inuyasha has become paranoid and that now, it is the securest place we can go to. Any other of our properties might be rigged with a bomb, it's best not to take the chance."

"In my old age? You're just as old as I am!"

"Oh, don't go pegging fifty plus years onto my already extensive life. Now, stop trying to argue with us and go find her. We'll pick up Kaede, Myouga and Shippou on the way."

Inuyasha nodded, "Good. And call the dumb wolf and my idiot brother when you get the chance. I'm not sure who did this to you guys, but with everything that's been happening with Kagome I'm not afraid to say that it might all be connected with everyone from the feudal era."

With that he left to go find the miko that was presently missing in action. Searching around the area where the police and firefighters were standing he was unable to find her. Obviously Kagome still never listened to a word he had to say for the benefit of her safety. Weaving through the throngs of on lookers, he was happy when his sense of smell finally came back to him. Sniffing about he finally caught the smell of Kagome and made his way out of the crowd. Breaking away from the mass of people he found Kagome sitting on a stone bench thirty yards away near a patch of trees. He caught the distinct smell of salt from her and realized she was crying.

Making quick work of the distance between them he crouched before her. "Kagome? Did something happen?"

She continued to sob as she saw through the tears that blurred her eyes that it was Inuyasha. Staring into his eyes she confessed what she had to do. "I-I killed him. He asked me to kill him."

Confusion and disbelief crossed his face, "Kill who?"

She gulped down another onset of tears, "Hojo."

"He came to you?" Although he had been the one to warn her about a possible necromancer trying to use in corpse against her, he never thought it might actually happen. He had thought it was just his paranoid mind, as Miroku put it, getting away with him.

"He was in pain. . . he was like Kikyou. . . only memories." She looked away from Inuyasha piercing gaze. "Please don't hate me. I didn't want to do it, but. . . Oh God. . ."

Shaking his head he laid a comforting hand upon her trembling ones, "I don't hate you. I know you did whatever you had to do with good reason. Come on, let's go home. You can tell me what happened on the way there."

She silently nodded as she slowly stood up next to him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I told you to call them, not invite them over!" Inuyasha smacked the monk upside the head as he glared at his brother, his sister-in-law, and Kouga. "I understand Kaede, Myouga and Shippou being here but we really don't need to be having a reunion."

A calmed down Kagome rolled her eyes as she tugged the hanyou down to sit next to her on the couch. "Just give it a rest. With everything that's happening it might be best if we stick close together. Anyways, it's not like you don't have enough room in this place for them."

"We don't have time to deal with the foolishness of my brother. I am not here by my own will, but for the protection of Rin. Now, let us resolve this problem before I'm expected to stay here for a long period of time."

Kagome nodded, "You're right. Well, I don't know when it all began for you guys, but it all started. . ." She went on the retell the past couple days while everyone listened disbelievingly.

"So you're a goddess? And Inuyasha is a god?" Sango shook her head and took a deep breath, "I don't know which situation is less believable."

"What I don't get is why we're here. If Kagome and dog turd are that powerful why do they need humans or demons to help out?" Kouga sulked from his position on the sofa, it wasn't everyday that you found out your rival of half a millennia ended up being a god.

Before Inuyasha could yell at the wolf demon Kagome placed a stern hand upon his and spoke, "I don't think we're powerful Kouga. It's just that we were gods. . . I don't feel anymore godly than before I found out. . . whatever that means. . . but I know we need your help." Her eyes swept across the room, "Everybody's. And I know I'm putting you all in danger by asking you to help in this second calling, but I don't know if I'll succeed without it."

Miroku smiled and nodded, "I do not pretend to know the sentiments of others; however, if it is of any assistance you can count upon my help."

"As well as mine." Sango grasped Miroku's hand and looked toward Kagome with the undying friendship that had not melted away in the years of separation.

Everyone voiced they're help, even the solemn Sesshoumaru tilted his head downward in a show of participation in the second calling.

"Well I know you all are tired so I think it's best if Inuyasha shows you to your rooms."

Inuyasha sputtered a moment to look over at the young miko, "Why me? Why do I have to play host all of a sudden?"

Giving him a deadpan look Kagome spoke, "That's because you are the host." Seeing the stubborn look in his eye Kagome sighed and gestured everyone to follow, "Fine. I'll show everyone to their rooms. Forgive me if I don't know where everything is in this house, I'm still relatively new here."

Half hour and much confusion later Kagome had been able to sort out the rooms. Sesshoumaru and Rin in the room farthest down the second floor hall. Miroku and Sango across the hall from them. The rest of the occupants were spread out across the second floor, each with their own room except Shippou and Kirara that shared a room. It didn't seem necessary to give Myouga a room, but he would also be staying with Shippou.

After everyone had said their good nights, while Sesshoumaru just shrugged and went to his room without a word, Inuyasha and Kagome were left alone in the hall. Stretching up, she kissed him on the cheek to whisper a good night and headed toward her room. Her path was stopped by the hanyou. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to bed like everyone else. It's been a long day Inuyasha and we have to go to work tomorrow, I really need the sleep."

He nodded, "Yeah, I get that. But you're not going back to your old room."

She sighed, "I'm not?"

"You're staying with me in my room." He said it was if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Her eyes widened as she fumbled over her words. "W-we're sharing a bed?"

"We've shared a bed before Kagome."

She swerved her head around making sure no one was around than let out it a harsh whisper, "Well, that's because your apartment only had one bed! I don't see why we should share beds now."

Rolling his eyes he suddenly swooped down to heft her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Wow, Kagome, I didn't know you were this much of a prude." Climbing the stairs in no time he open and closed the door and tossed her onto the bed unceremoniously.

"Inuyasha!"

Ignoring her he went to his dresser to pull out a pair of clean boxers and a white t-shirt. Strolling into the adjoining bathroom he shut the door behind him and the sound of the shower could be heard moments later.

After a few minutes of glaring at the bathroom door Kagome sighed and went over to the closet. All her clothes were down stairs and she wasn't about to go to have Inuyasha cause noise trying to get her back up here. Picking out a large dark red t-shirt she set it on the bed. Pulling off her shirt then wiggling out of her jeans she stood there in nothing but her undergarments. Taking Inuyasha's temporarily borrowed shirt turned pajamas she raised it over her head, when the bathroom door opened.

Inuyasha froze in place at the sight before him. The most gorgeous creature he had ever laid eyes on stood before him with her arms raised ready to put on one of his shirts, with nothing but matching lacy lavender bra and panties.

After a long awkward pause Kagome blushed profusely and yanked the shirt on, "Inuyasha!"

A part of him had stirred awake at the sight and he was now taking deep calming breaths. Damn his hanyou libido.

"Knock next time!" She turned away from him to hide her blush.

Her back toward him he walked up to her and wrapped his strong arms around from behind. "Knock to come out of a room? If I had knocked I would have been able to see that. . ." He felt himself harden at the thought of her and what lay beneath the shirt that now covered her.

Unconsciously his hips grinded forward and she felt the evidence of his arousal poking her in the lower back. She released shallow breaths as she unknowingly wiggled her posterior toward him. "Inuyasha. . ."

He let out a groan at her body movements and sound of his name falling off her lips. Turning her around slowly he then pushed her backward until her knees bent because of the bed as he followed. The woman below him was panting as she languidly opened her eyes to stare into his golden ones. Seeing the lusty look in her gaze, he wasn't sure if he could control himself much longer. Five hundred years of celibacy waiting for one woman had made him carry around a hefty bottle of pent of sexual frustration. Now, the woman of his dreams lay below him barely covered besides his t-shirt.

"Kagome. W-we have to stop now or I won't be able to lat-" His words were cut off when she leaned upward to place a firm kiss upon his lips.

Trailing kisses across his jaw to his human ears she whispered out. "Then don't stop." She wasn't sure where she had gotten the sudden urge in confidence but she wasn't about to let it go.

Her words sent him let out another groan as his body rocked toward hers. "Oh God. . ." Shaking his head slightly to gather himself he pulled back to stare into her eyes. "We don't have to do this Kagome."

Unsure of where her boldness was coming from she let her hand slip from around his neck to reach down and stroke him through the fabric of his pants. "I want to."

With the stroke of her gentle hands he lost it. Reaching his hands down to the hem of the shirt she was wearing he pulled it up over her head. He looked down upon the barely covered up woman and allowed his hands to trace across her body. His human hands caressed along her hips and upward to cup her breasts.

Arching her back into his hands she moaned out his name. She stopped his hands and struggled to open her eyes and locked it with his. "Lower your concealing spell. . . I want this to be with the real Inuyasha. . . the hanyou that I fell in love with."

His heart melted at her words and he allowed his real self to appear. He leaned down to kiss her fully. Tongue tracing lips to ask for the entrance that it quickly received, he learned the contours of her mouth with his own while his hands memorized her body. Breaking away from the prolonged kiss he sighed as he felt her hands tracing his dog-ears. Looking down upon her with eyes full of emotion he let himself go to the passion. "I love you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: Yes people, Kagome and Inuyasha finally get down to business. It took me forever in deciding whether or not I would write a lemon. If it had been 17 chapters ago I would sternly say no and go along with that, but now that I'm 19 and not 16 years old I'm a very different person. However, the story is still the same and amazingly I still have some of the same readers that I've had since the beginning. And I realized that I owed it to them to keep this fanfic without a lemon. Anyways, it's not like I'm great at writing them (being as I have yet to write one. . .). And so, to those who have asked the question: No, this fic will not include a lemon.

Until next time!


	18. Clear and Full of Possibilities

Author Notes: Sorry for the late update everyone! But I do plan to see this fanfiction through! Enjoy the chappie!

Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha I don't think I would be updating this slowly. . .

". . ." dialogue

'. . .' thoughts

**Clear and Full of Possibilities**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

Maybe it wasn't the best time. She had just finished destroying the image of her best friend. Was their night together her way of dealing with despair? Now, he wished he had waited or talked to her about it before they had sex last night. The stone of doubt sat heavily in his heart as he gazed down at the slumbering girl next to him.

-No use of reservation. Like a horny teenager.-

Inuyasha's brows furrowed in anger, the afterglow of the events from short hours before was not something he wanted to share.

-Not really sharing if I'm you is it?-

'Leave me alone. You can piss the hell out of me later as much as you want but not now. This is my moment, not yours.'

-You talk to me like we're different people. One in the same half-breed. . . well, that's not completely true. I'm obviously full blooded.-

He could feel himself ready to snap but tried calming himself down when he felt the girl curl closer to him. Glancing down at her he felt his blood quiet a bit as she saw the worried look that she held even within her sleep. Stroking his clawed hands through her hair she calmed.

-She'll find out eventually. . . That this kind nature you have toward her is a lie.-

'Leave us alone.'

The voice laughed as it slowly disappeared, -You'll kill her you know.-

The voice gone and left to his own mental turmoil he turned the words of the voice in his head. If what it said was true, he couldn't let it happen, especially since he had known about it before hand. He had convinced himself that this was his inner battle and that no one need to know about it, but now he wasn't so sure. Slipping from the sheets and pulling on a pair of black sweat pants on he decided that if something was to be done and he needed to do it now. Looking back at the girl in bed he sighed, he hated to leave her alone at the moment but he would be sure to be back as quickly as possible. Opening the door quietly he left the room.

Down the steps and to the second floor, Inuyasha walked toward Kaede's door when he heard someone coming out of the bathroom.

"Inuyasha. What are you doing awake?" Miroku said as he suppressed a yawn and scratched his head.

"I'll tell you, just come with me to Kaede's room. I was hoping I'd be able to talk to you both." Without further explanation Inuyasha went to Kaede's door and knocked on it loud enough to rouse the old woman.

After a few minutes and some faint grumbling that could be heard Kaede opened the door, "What do you two want at this time of night disturbing an old woman's rest?"

"I need to discuss something with the both of you." Kaede nodded but made no show of inviting them in. Scrunching his brows he gave a small growl. "Now."

Rolling her eye she gestured both in. Settling herself to sit upon the bed she motioned for the other two to sit down as well. Miroku nodded in gratitude and sat at the end of the bed, while Inuyasha opted to stand.

After long moments in which he did not speak Miroku sighed, "If this truly is important I'd like for you to get on with it."

Inuyasha nodded calmly, surprising both monk and priestess. This must be an important topic, it made Inuyasha somber to the point where he did not scowl in response Miroku's comment.

"I'm. . . I'm hearing a voice in my head."

Kaede furrowed her brows, "Voices in your head? Do you think you're going mad?"

Inuyasha shook his head, "Not voices, just a voice. One voice, the same one every time. . . I thought I was going insane before, that's why I didn't say anything. But. . . it's saying things now and forcing me to see images. . ."

"What sort of images?"

Without answering Miroku's question Inuyasha continued, "I figured it out earlier, but with everything that happened I hadn't been able to talk to either of you yet. . . The voice. . . is that of my demon. My full demon is talking to me. Saying I'll do things that I'll regret forever." Looking up he allowed a look of desperation to fall across his face. "If it really is my demon talking to me I need to get rid of it forever."

Miroku's eyes widened, "Whoa there Inuyasha, let's not jump to actions that we'll regret later. Dispelling your demon from you would mean that you would become human. . . only human, your half demon form will be lost forever."

Inuyasha nodded in understanding, "I know that, and I'm willing to do it if means I protect Kagome from myself."

"I feared you would get this idea in your head after we found that spell years ago to rid you of either side of your blood. . . think through this Inuyasha, this is not something you can back out of." Miroku attempted to reason with him.

"I can live with being human." He smiled sadly, "You have all these years. . . anyways, this way it'll be better for Kagome. She doesn't need a half demon to mess up her life. If I was human it would be easier for both of us."

"She doesn't care about those kinds of things, you know that."

Kaede cleared her throat to get their attention. "I think it would be best to investigate the source of this voice Inuyasha, for I doubt it be your demon talking to you."

"What else could it be?"

"I am not sure, but there is something you haven't accepted after all these years. You are your demon and your human side- they are not separate entities. Speaking with your demon is not possible."

Inuyasha's widened, "So. . . I won't do everything he's saying I will? I won't kill Kagome?"

The other two were taken aback at Inuyasha's words, and his confession of what the voice promised. They now understood the reason for Inuyasha's immense worriment over the topic.

Miroky nodded, "The best way to go about finding the source would be attempting to exorcise you of any demons. . . What I'm worried about is what would happen to your own demon. . ."

"It may be best to suppress your demon so that it is not affected by the ritual."

"Suppress? What do you mean by suppress?" His demon ears twitched in response to the idea.

Kaede seemed to ponder it a moment, "We'll either have to find a spell to hold your demon down, or we'll have to wait for the next new moon."

Inuyasha raked a clawed hand through his bangs, "I was hoping I could resolve this a little bit sooner than that. . . the new moon just passed."

"Patience is a virtue Inuyasha."

Scowling he glared at Miroku, "I don't have time for patience. By the time the next new moon comes about this situation with the voice could get worse."

Miroku sighed, "Fine. I'll slave over ancient scrolls and books to look for a demon suppressant."

Inuyasha nodded and headed toward the door. His hand on the doorknob without turning around he threw back a sincere 'thank you' and left without another word.

A moment after the hanyou left Miroku turned toward the aged priestess, "This probably has been going on for while."

Kaede gave an exasperated sigh, "It seems Inuyasha has gotten more stubborn with age. I'm sure this voice of his has been around for a bit now, he probably wouldn't have said anything if it did not threaten Kagome like it did."

"He's really worried isn't he?"

A small smile graced her lips as she looked toward the door in which the hanyou in question left, "It's about Kagome, of course he's worried."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Inuyasha's mind spun with all the possible outcomes of his voice-in-his-head problem. He sighed as he could only see this ending badly. . . maybe he had become a pessimist over the years. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he caught a faint whiff of Kagome. Looking up the steps that he was about to climb there stood a panicked Kagome. Wrapped only in his white silk king-sized bed sheets, she stood at the top of the steps with her hair tussled and sleep still in her eyes- she took his breath away.

"I-inuyasha. . ." Suddenly her lip trembled and she flew down the stairs with the excess sheet length fluttering behind her. She threw herself at Inuyasha wrapping him in a tight embrace.

The startled Inuyasha held a puzzled expression, "Kagome? Are you alright?" He examined her superficially for any signs of injury, when seeing none he sighed. "Kagome." With the sound of his voice she held him tighter.

He coaxed her off him enough so that he could look into her face. Brushing away a few strands of her disarrayed bangs he spoke to her in a calming voice. "You're starting to worry me Kagome."

"When I woke up you weren't there. . . I waited for you but. . . I thought you regretted what we did, that maybe I wasn't good enough-"

He swallowed her fears as his lips crashed onto hers. A long moment later they broke away panting, their brows leaned against one another.

"I don't want you to ever think like that. I don't regret anything and you weren't good." When he felt her stiffen within his arms he kissed her pulse point and whispered hotly in her ear, "You were amazing."

He grinned against her skin as he felt her pulse flutter wildly at his words. "Y-you don't have to exaggerate like that just to make me feel better."

Giving a low menacing growl he pulled back to stare into her eyes, "Look, I've been imagining how our first time together would be like since the first time I laid my eyes on you. And trust me, I have a very vivid imagination. . . and what we had? So much better than anything I could have ever hoped for." Seeing the deep blush that swept across her face to her chest he smirked and leaned down to kiss the hollow of her neck, "And so much hotter."

Without saying another word or waiting for a response he swept the girl up into his arms and leapt up the steps. He stopped at the door that Kagome had left open in her haste and looked down at the girl he held bridal style in his arms. A confused expression befell her as she heard him laugh. "What's so funny Inuyasha? Do I have something on my face?"

"When you ran the stairs wrapped in this huge sheet I thought you looked like a bride on your wedding day, and now I'm carrying you over the threshold of my room. . . I thought it was ironic being that we already had our first time together."

She smiled softly, "I didn't know you were such a romantic."

Laughing he stepped into the room and shut the door with his foot. Jumping onto the bed with Kagome still in his arms he plopped down. "Back where we should be."

She huffed and pulled away from him, "You're the one that left."

He tugged her back toward him. She ungracefully landed sprawled across his chest as he lay propped up on the pillows. Stroking his claws through her hair he gave a rare soft smile, "I didn't want to leave."

"But-"

Silencing her with a finger at her lips, sadness fell across his eyes. "Do you honestly think I could have left you here alone in our bed without an extremely important reason?"

She bit her lip as she curled herself against his body, "I just wanted you to be here when I woke up."

"I know. I'm sorry."

Smiling against the skin of his bare chest Kagome nodded, "You never apologize. . . I know you mean it."

He sighed heavily, "I hate to think that you judge my sincerity by how often I don't show it."

Shrugging she wrapped her arm around his torso, "Well you're a jerk."

"Hey!"

"Don't act surprised. Who cares anyways? You're my jerk and I accept you for every crude word that will fall out of your mouth in the future."

With a flat tone he looked down at her, "Yay."

A comfortable silence fell across the room as Kagome started doze off and Inuyasha receded into his thoughts. After a few beats he whispered as if you wasn't sure if he had to the courage to ask the question. "You don't do you?"

She yawned with her eyes remained closed, "I don't what?"

". . . Regret it."

That snapped her out of her sleepy state immediately. Sitting up to look him in the eye she said with all sincerity, "Of course not! Why would you ask me that?"

He avoided gazes with her, "I don't see why you're so surprised I asked, you even had doubts yourself."

"Because you weren't here when I woke up!" She tilted her head to the side and furrowed her brows, "What makes you even think I would regret it."

It was difficult to form the words, but once they started they tumbled out. "I. . . I feel like I took advantage of you when you were in state of grief. You had just destroyed an image of your best friend. . . but when I saw you and you didn't push me away. . . I couldn't control myself. I wanted to be with you and the whole world just fell away. . . I was being selfish."

She didn't respond for a moment until she let out a genuine laugh. The puzzled and slightly hurt Inuyasha looked up to see that Kagome was laughing at his emotional turmoil. Scowling he turned his head away, but Kagome leaned forward laughter still within her and kissed the edge of his lips. "You're one of a kind Inuyasha."

"Stop laughing." He gritted out showing his hurt and frustration.

Kagome shook her head, "I'm laughing because I know you're selfish sometimes Inuyasha, and you never admit it. But the one time that you're not, you admit that you are."

He peeked out of the corner of his eye to her, "So I'm wasn't being selfish?"

With a blush staining her cheeks she leaned forward and mumbled against the crook of his neck. "If I remember correctly, I was the one that told you not to stop." Settling herself comfortably against him she sighed, "Anyways, if we waited for the moment when nothing else was happening and there was no confusion. . . well, we'd have a millennia old virgin hanyou on our hands."

He groaned, "Are you going to keep bringing that up?"

She smirked, "Well it's not exactly common place for a guy to be a virgin after the age of seventeen, let alone five hundred sixty-eight years."

"Five hundred sixty-four you know. I don't need you to be tacking on extra years to my life."

Seeing the mock hurt in his eyes she laughed and wrapped an arm around his waist, "Please forgive me, you know I don't mean to hurt the ego of the mate I love."

A wide grin crept across his face and leaned down toward her face, "Say it again."

She tilted her head in question, "Forgive me?"

"No, after that. What you called me."

Understanding came to her as she smiled softly and whispered: "Mate."

"Again."

Tilting her head up she kissed his eyebrow then made her way up to his dog-ears and whispered once again. "Mate. . ."

Tumbling her into the sheets he locked his mouth upon hers. With his firm, gentle, and all at once ravishing kiss he pulled back breathed heavily. "What did I do to deserve you?"

"I don't know, but I knew I was yours from the moment I saw you pinned to that tree."

"I love you so much my mate." Sealing his lips upon hers he allowed his free arm to fumble around in the drawer of his nightstand.

Between pressed lips she mumbled out, "I think it's a bit too late to be thinking about a condom."

Finally gripping the thing he wanted between his finger he pulled his arm away from the drawer and brought it to lean over her. Rocking the evidence of his growing arousal against her sheet-covered pelvis, he smirked when he heard her moan. "That's not what I was reaching for, but if you're up for it. . ."

Blushing for being caught with her mind in the gutter she pouted, "Then what is it."

"Should I really tell you? I like your suggestion too."

"Inuyasha!" She squeaked as she felt him lick and nibble at the side of her neck. "Come on, show me what's in your hand."

Tracing his claws along her curves, "Well, at the moment you're in my hands."

"God, I didn't know that you were such a horny hanyou."

"You really didn't think that getting some once was going to sate me did you?"

"Once! I hardly call four times on my first night once!" She answered in an attempted indignation but a small moan escaped her as she felt his gentle claws trail up her body.

Cooing into her ear he allowed his hand to travel down the length of her left arm. "I'm sorry baby, you must be sore from last night. Let me make it up to you."

With a sudden quick movement of his deft fingers she felt something cool rest upon her own. "What the?" Bringing her left hand to be at eye level she gasped. "I-inuyasha."

He threaded his right hand with her left and kiss her ring finger where now rested a three stone diamond ring. "Just say yes. Say you'll be with me forever."

Tears welled in her eyes and used her free hand to pull on his neck to kiss him deeply. Pulling back slightly she leaned her forehead against hers, "Yes. You don't even have to ask."

"I didn't, I just told you to say yes."

She smiled through her tears, "And if I said no?"

"I think my heart would have stopped."

"You really didn't have to do this Inuyasha. I know how you feel, and you know how I feel. You know that would have been enough for me."

"I know, but I want it to be official. If we get married the human world recognizes us, and if I mark you the youkai world will recognize you as mine."

Stroking his hair and scratching behind his ear she shook her head, "You know you don't need anyone's recognition. This is us, this is our world and I recognize us and so do you." She smiled widely, "But thank you asking me, I know you did this more for me and my need to finalize it with my family."

"Forever right?"

"I'm figuring that you bought the three stone for just that reason. Past, present, and future. . . how appropriate for us."

He smiled, "I'm glad you're on the same track as me. Look closely at the ring, you'll see that one of the smaller stones is tinged blue and the other is tinged amber. I'm from your past. You're in my future."

"And the present?"

He shrugged, "Clear and full of possibilities."

Kagome giggled at that, "You're really so sentimental."

"I bought it in my days of youth."

"Youth? You were already pushing seventy when I met you."

"Fine, youther. . . I commissioned this ring the day you were born."

"You sound like a pedophile."

Ignoring her comment he continued, "After your birth you were lined up with all the other babies in that room. I stood at the window and even with all those infants in there I knew which one was you. . . I fell in love all over again. That day I went to the jewelers and had this made. . . took them a few months to get a hold of everything I asked for but they got it together after a while." He chuckled a little, "When I came to the shrine on your fourth birthday and the tradition for us to hang out started I wanted to propose to you right then. . . but I thought it would be rushing it a bit."

Kagome laughed, "Yeah, that would be rushing it, even for you."

He snorted, "You obviously don't know how much I love you." At his sudden confession she blushed. Seeing the redness of her cheeks he laughed. "I can't believe you still get embarrassed."

Turning away from him she hid her face in the pillow. "Shut up."

Chuckling, he wrapped an arm around her slim waist and kissed the area behind her ear. "Good night."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A month had passed and the date was now November 20th. Kagome was to take over Mr. Williams' job completely now and he was to finally retire. In his honor, the company and co-workers decided that a farewell party was in order for his many years working at the bank.

"Congratulations Kagome-kun, it really has been a pleasure working with you." Mr. Williams proclaimed as he held the young woman in a caring hug.

Pulling back from the hug Kagome smiled sadly, "I'm really going to miss you Mr. Williams. You really have taught me so much in this past month."

"Oh not to worry my dear, I will come visit every so often. It's not everyday in Tokyo where you can find a fluent English speaker." He patted her on the head, a habit he had picked up during their short time together. "And I'll see you at your wedding. . . assuming that I am invited."

Blushing but smiling brilliantly she nodded, "Of course you are! And thank you for not treating me any differently or judging me when you found out I was engaged to Inuyasha."

"If he did I would have fired him anyways." The hanyou in question stated as he walked up to the two. Extending his hand toward Mr. Williams, Inuyasha gave a rare genuine smile. "It has been a pleasure working with you all these years Mr. Williams. I can't believe you tolerated me all those years to stay with the bank."

The older man shook his head. "I have nothing but fond memories when it concerns my deals with you Mr. Touken. And please, call me Evan. You are no longer my employer and I no longer your employee, I would like to think we could become friends."

"I think what you meant to say was to 'remain as friends.'"

Evan nodded as he stunned the hanyou by pulling him into a hug. "Live well my friend, and be good to her." Stepping back from the hug he winked at Kagome. "Don't let Mr. Touken boss you around Kagome-kun."

As she laughed and nodded, Inuyasha smirked, "Nah. I wouldn't even consider marrying a woman that took the bullshit that comes out of my mouth sometimes. And Evan, it's Inuyasha."

Nodding he bowed in a form of formal farewell and continued on with the party.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What's wrong Kagome? You're not hungry?"

Turning her attention from the barely touched plate of food in front of her to the inquiring Shippou she smiled sadly. "I guess I don't have an appetite tonight."

"Did something happen child? You did not fight with the brute of a fiancée did you?" Kaede questioned from her place at the table.

"Hey! I'm right here you know! And I don't see why it's always my fault when she gets even remotely sad or angry." Inuyasha growled.

Kagome shook her head and reached for Inuyasha's hand under the table. Looking toward the inquiring pair she sighed, "I guess saying my 'good byes' to Mr. Williams was just a little bit harder on me than I expected."

"You got along well with him didn't you?"

She nodded toward the older miko. "He felt a little like the father figure that I didn't really have growing up." Realizing what she had said she widened her eyes, "Oh, I'm sorry. . . I didn't mean to bring up. . . I'm sorry."

As she looked about the table, she realized that no one present really had a prominent father figure in their lives either. Inuyasha lost his father when he was protecting Inuyasha's mother. Seshoumaru was probably neglected after his father had a new family. Rin's parents died when she was at a young age. Miroku's father got sucked into his own wind tunnel. Sango's father was killed with the rest of her villagers. Shippou's parents were both murdered by the thunder brothers, leaving him orphaned. The only three with possible parental figures in their lives were Kaede, Myouga, and Kirara; and even that was questionable. Looking down at her food once again she felt shame come over her for bring up such a sensitive topic.

"Don't worry about it Kagome-san." Kagome looked up to see the gentle smile of Rin. "It's a difficult topic to talk about, even after the many years that have passed for all of us. But there is no need to completely avoid it. If you don't mind me asking. . . What happened to your father?"

A moment lapsed and Kagome contemplated the question. It was a simple one, but one she was rarely asked and one she rarely answered. "He. . . he died when I was five. . . actually I was seven, but it felt like he was gone two years before."

"Was he in a vegetable state?"

She shook her head, her eyes were not focused on anything, as if she were in a different place. "My father, Higurashi Toyokazu, was a good man. . . or so people tell me. . . I really don't remember how he was like before everything started. When I was five years old he was diagnosed with a brain tumor that was inoperable in the past. It was a devastating blow to the family.

"My mother was still the young mother, still figuring family life out and my brother had just been born. Gramps was there through the whole thing, but I knew it was difficult watching his only son change so drastically. . . A few months after he was diagnosed my father started acting very differently. He was more aggressive and irritable. He was not a pleasant person to be around and a bit abusive at times. . . the doctors told my mother that the tumor was affecting a part of his brain that controlled behavior. . . I still don't know the technicalities of that, but I do remember my father being like that. . . that's the only way I remember my father. . .

"When you're five years old, there are things you remember and things you don't. I remember my father being there and how much I loved him, but I don't remember him being the kind person everyone tells me he was. To me, he was the angry father and I was the daughter that managed to do everything wrong. . . I wish I remembered my father in a different light, but I don't. When he died my mother said he was in a better place, that he had not been himself for far too long. It took years for my mother get over his death. . . I don't think she really has gotten over it completely. But despite all that happened, I loved my father, regardless of how the tumor made him behave."

Her entire body was trembling after spilling out her story of her father. She felt Inuyasha's hand clasped firmly with hers under the table, and she felt him squeeze lightly in a form of comfort. That was a thing between them, the subtle assurances they were able to give each other without everyone else knowing.

"What they tell you about your father is right you know." Kagome looked up with a questioning gaze at Inuyasha. "I knew and met him as Touken. He was one of the most honorable people I have ever met, and I was proud to call him a friend. When he started to change because of the tumor he once said that he knew what was happening to him could tear apart his family, but he couldn't control it. He said that sometimes he wished he could end his life so that his family wouldn't remember him the way he was in the last years of his life, but he said he was too selfish for that."

Tears welled in her eyes as she took in Inuyasha's words. "Selfish?"

"Selfish to want to be around his family as long as possible, regardless of the circumstances. I didn't think he was selfish at all. Instead I thought he was brave to still be with his family even though his image would be forever distorted."

Kagome nodded her head and wiped the tears away from her cheeks. "Thank you for telling me this." She smiled and looked toward the rest of the people at the table. "God, I'm just a mood killer aren't I? Let's talk about something a little less depressing."

"Ritual suicide." Everyone glared at Seshoumaru, but Kagome laughed slightly at his sarcastic comment.

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A/N: I see the story's climax in a distance. . . the distance happens to be a long ways away. . . but I see it. That's the important part. Till next time! Jaa ne! Review!


	19. When I'm Normal Again

1Author Notes: I'm reviewers faster than I can write drama between Inuyasha and Kagome. I went from three straight chapters with 27 reviews, then it dipped down to 12. God, I can't believe the amount of readers of losing. I know, I know, it's my fault because this fic is 3 years old and moving at a snail's pace. Please don't give up on me! Enjoy the chappie!

Disclaimer: Inuyasha lives in my mind and pays rent, which I have yet to collect.

". . ." dialogue

'. . .' thoughts

**When I'm Normal Again**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

"So how does this work?"

Miroku looked up from his place on the floor. Brushing his bangs away from his face he gestured toward the living room floor he had been drawing purposeful lines on with red chalk. "Well I'll need to contain the spell within a designated area or any demon within a twenty-mile vicinity will be affected."

Inuyasha scratched the back of his head a bit, "So I step into this circle, you do some magic thing and the voice will be gone right?"

Kaede glared at him from her position on the chair at the edge of the room where all the furniture had been pushed. "If everything was as simple as that we wouldn't take so many precautions will we?"

"Inuyasha, we're not sure if you're going crazy or if there is a spell cast on you. We're not even sure if this is a demon or a human. Whatever the outcome you must be prepared." Miroku admonished without bringing up his head while he put in the final strokes for the spell containment circle he had drawn.

"Yeah, I get it." Glancing at the clock on the mantel once again he sighed. "Sunset is in eight minutes."

Nodding the monk picked up ofudas from the table and stuck them every eighth way around the circle. "I'm sorry that we couldn't do this earlier, but I couldn't find a spell that would suppress your demon without the help of Kagome. . ."

Furrowing his brows Inuyasha said with a grim expression. "I'm not involving her in this. The further she is away from all this the better off she will be."

Kaede shook her head, "And if she finds out? She will only be hurt that you did not trust her to know about this."

"Just get on with it will you?"

Miroku sighed as he got on his knees to draw another circle on the floor next to the first one, this one being much smaller. "Where is Kagome anyways? I haven't seen her for the better part of the day."

Inuyasha shrugged and distractedly answered, "She's at the shrine helping out today, I told her I had things to take care of so I couldn't go with her."

"Shouldn't you be picking her up?"

"Rin said she'd do it. . . Something about wanting Sesshoumaru to meet his in-laws or something like that."

"So Rin and Sesshoumaru are in on it?"

Nodding Inuyasha closed his eyes, "Yeah. . . It's about to start." As the words left his mouth pulsing began coursing throughout his body. He hated this time of the lunar cycle. His senses dulled and his strength weakened, he felt helpless in the world and unable to protect those he needed to.

Seeing that Inuyasha's hair was bleeding into inky black and his ears receding down his head, Miroku hurried his precise strokes and finished the circle and the line of connection between the large one and the small one.

Opening his eyes the hanyou turned toward the circle with his now purple gaze. "This better not kill me."

Giving him a half smile Miroku pointed toward the center of the circle, "I fear the wrath of Kagome if I were to cause your death."

With the hanyou in place within the larger circle and the monk within the smaller one, Kaede stood from her place and came up toward the circle. "Whatever demon comes out of you will attempt to escape. I will try to hold it off until the two of you can get to it."

Nodding his head Miroku concentrated as he brought his age-old staff before him and started to chant in a Japanese so old that not even Inuyasha could decipher the meaning of the words completely. A sudden wind circled around the room as it jingled the rings on Miroku's staff and Inuyasha's long hair was kicked up. As the chanting continued the drawn circle on the floor started to become dotted with lights of an unknown source. As the dots collected it formed a perfect ring that spun around Inuyasha. With each given rotation the ring grew tighter and tighter as it closed in on him. When finally the ring was spinning directly around Inuyasha, it jolted to a sudden stop then shot up the length of his body. Eyes widened as an excruciating pain pumped through his veins. After a long second of struggle the pain left his body and he collapsed onto the floor breathing heavily.

Both the monk and priestess were speechless as they stared at where the light had settled.

Groaning the hanyou pushed himself off the ground rubbed his head, "God, I haven't been through that kind of pain in ages." Noticing the looks of his companions he raised an eyebrow in question, "What's up with you guys? Oh! Did it work? Is the demon possessing me gone?"

Not getting an answer from them he snarled as best as he could in his human form. Detecting their line of vision, he followed their gaze toward just below his neck. Looking down the bridge of his nose as he tilted his head he gasped. Bringing his claws up to touch what had been with him through everything he whispered out: "My rosary. . ."

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Kagome raised an eyebrow, as an unexpected sight was scene climbing the many steps of the Higurashi shrine. "What are you two doing here?"

Rin bounded up the stairs with cheerfulness that no person of five hundred plus years had any right to still maintain. "I wanted Sessho to meet your family!"

Seeing the ever-calm Sesshoumaru climbing the steps a few paces behind him Kagome smiled, "I'm so sorry she put you up to this."

The regal youkai met her eyes and gave a slight nod, voicing nothing in return.

Kagome sighed, no matter how much he tried to crack the exterior of her brother-in-law-to-be it was impossible. He was polite enough. . . then again it wasn't that hard of a feat going from ready to kill your boyfriend upon sight to being remotely civil. When both of them reached the top of the steps Kagome tilted her head toward the house. "Come on in, I'm sure my mother will be so glad to meet you. Ever since I told her about my engagement to Inuyasha she's been annoying me about meeting his only living family member."

Yet again, the only response she received from the stoic demon was a nod.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I can't ask her to do that."

Kaede shook her head in exasperation. "It is the only way! We must have Kagome take off the rosary and destroy it."

Inuyasha growled, "I can't! I made this huge deal about not wanting her to remove it weeks ago. I can't tell her, 'Oh by the way, everything I said earlier about this? Forget it. I want it off. Apparently big curse on it.'"

"I am sure she will understand. Kagome would probably reach for the rosary herself if she knew about all that was happening to you because of it."

"Isn't there a way to get rid of the curse without actually taking the rosary off? I'm sure the curse was put on there when I had it on so I see no problem."

Kaede brought a hand to her temple, the inu youkai had not grown out of his stubbornness in all these years. Kagome must have the patience of a saint to deal with him. "That, is what you will no let us explain Inuyasha! The rosary was cursed before it was ever placed upon you!"

The remark he had ready to fire at the old woman died on his tongue, as he couldn't believe her words. To the side Miroku sighed and walked up to the arguing pair. "Those rosary beads were binding once they went around your head and Kagome yelled her first 'Osuwari.' The only way that a curse could be placed upon it was for it to have been there in the first place, or unless Kagome had taken it off and put it back on you at one point."

"I've never taken these off. . . not since the first day I met Kagome."

Furrowing her brows Kaede became pensive. "Those rosary beads. . . I did not make them myself, that would be how one insures a untouched rosary. . . however, given the predicament you placed us in that day Inuyasha, I had no choice but to use the rosary I had at hand."

"Then where did you get these?"

"From Kikyou." Seeing the widening of eyes from both males Kaede nodded. "It was the last gift my sister gave to me. Because of the sentimental significance of it, I carried it around with me through my youth and until my old age. When I direly needed one, I did not hesitate in using it on you."

Miroku allowed a quizzically expression to cross his face. "This doesn't make sense. Why would your sister give you a cursed rosary? And why would she curse a rosary in the first place?"

Kaede sighed, "I do not know. . . but I do recall thinking the rosary was very odd looking for something of my sister's craftsmanship. She was known to have the typical rosary that only held the round beads, like those used in Inuyasha's. . . however, when she gave me this one with fangs with it I asked her about it. . . but she only mentioned that these were unique so that I may have something that no one else had."

"The question is if lady Kikyou knew that the beads were cursed."

Inuyasha crossed his arms, "She would have known. With the kind of spiritual power she had, she wouldn't have been able to help but know. . . unless. . ."

"Unless what?"

Inuyasha growled as he looked up, "It wasn't Kikyou that gave you the rosary, but Onigumo."

"That's not. . ." Kaede fell silent when she allowed the idea to turn about in her head a moment. "But. . . Oh god. . . it was a few short hours before the whole staged betrayal between you and my sister. . ."

The hanyou fisted the rosary within his claws allowing his knuckles to become white. "We killed him already. How the fuck does he still cause all this shit to happen?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So you're here to steal my sister?"

Sesshoumaru raised a brow at the younger Higurashi. "Steal?"

Souta stood tall, which fell short a couple inches to the surprisingly tall Japanese man. "She's engaged to your brother isn't she?"

". . ."

"You're Inuyasha's brother aren't you?" Souta glanced over the long silver hair and nodded, "I doubt there is more than one genetic family that has silver hair in all of Tokyo."

Stoically looking upon the shorter man Sesshoumaru questioned, "If your sister is to marry my brother why do you accuse me of taking her away?"

Souta shook his head, "Don't think I don't know how it works. She marries into your family leaving behind ours."

"She doesn't stop being your sister."

Souta responded with the rolling of his yes. "Don't give me the cheesy Disney special response."

This time it was Sesshoumaru to glare down at the boy. "Did you just call me cheesy you sister complex suffering pubescent-"

"What are you saying to my little brother Sesshoumaru?"

With the voice of his brother's mate Sesshoumaru stopped mid insult, an insult that emulated his own brother a bit too closely.

Kagome titled her head giving a mischievous smile, "You terrorize Inuyasha enough, I don't need you to be psychologically damaging blood relatives."

The ever-present poker face back in place Sesshoumaru looked toward Kagome that had Rin standing behind her. "He's the one that started the yelling."

Rin giggled and trotted up to her husband. Reaching up she kissed him on the cheek. "I'm glad you're getting along with your new family."

"This is my brother's family, not mine. The only person that will become family is Kagome."

Kagome smiled and went up to him and hugged his arm, "Oh Sesshoumaru, you finally accept me into your household." Seeing the awkward look upon the man Kagome laughed. If this had been a few years. . . centuries ago she would never would have even chanced touching the man but times had changed.

Souta pointed accusingly at the arm Kagome was hugging and yelled at the taller man. "You've taken her already and she hasn't even walked down the aisle yet!"

Hearing her brother's words Kagome whispered loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. "He's always had a bit of a sister complex."

Face becoming a few shades redder Souta vehemently denied all claims.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"We have some leads on the Hojo Akitoki case."

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow as he held the phone to his ear. "The what?"

"You have got to be kidding. Don't you remember the murder case?"

"Oh. . . Oh! Yeah. Took you long enough though."

The tiger demon on the other line growled. "It's not like I can go around asking humans about any demons they've seen."

"So what did you find Donohue?"

"The person that's been sending people after Kagome's soul is someone high up in the human society."

Inuyasha froze in his action of fidgeting with the computer. He had been half listening, not really expecting anything vital to have come up on Hojo's murder. "Human?"

"Yeah, surprised me too. That's really what took so long to find anything about it. I was convinced it was a youkai involved in the Underground, but it's a human that is using the Underground to his advantage."

This was beyond what he expected. Someone, some human, was after Kagome. "Do you know who it is?"

"I'm afraid of telling you."

Inuyasha seethed in anger, ready to go down to the station and beat the answer out of Guy. "Who the fuck is it?"

". . . Matsuhito Hizuki."

He couldn't believe it. The CEO of Hitobito no Ginkou, the rival bank of his own Touken Ginkou was involved with the Underground and more importantly after Kagome's soul. "I don't get it. Kagome used to work for him, why didn't he try to get her soul then?"

"Whose soul?"

Inuyasha looked up from his desk to see that the girl in question had walked into his office at the tail end of his question. Mumbling a quick excuse and good-bye he hung up on Guy. "What are you doing on my floor?"

Kagome smiled as she made her way toward him and pecked him on the cheek. Sitting upon the edge of his desk she gave him a file. "You wanted the processed numbers for Garcia-Perez account."

Taking the file from her hands he set it on the table and instead pulled Kagome into his lap. "You don't have to deliver that in person you know."

Grinning she leaned forward to kiss him behind his ears, which were at the moment very much human due to a concealing spell. "I like having the excuse to come see you."

"You don't need an excuse. Just come up when you feel like it."

Pulling away from him a bit Kagome tilted her head in question. "Is something wrong? You seem distracted."

Yes. "No."

"Are you sure?"

The mention of Matsuhito and his want for Kagome's soul kept his mind reeling. "Yup, nothing on my mind."

"So I guess you're not worried about Matsuhito trying to get my soul right?" Crossing both her arms she looked at him accusingly.

He flinched as her words. Damn. "How did you-"

"Know? Well, I did walk in on the conversation but you didn't notice me. I was seeing if you would tell me on your own or try to hide it." Getting out of his arms and standing to tower over him she raised a brow, "Now, guess which one you picked."

"Kagome."

She shook her head, obviously angry at the hanyou. "Don't 'Kagome' me. God! You do this more everyday. Back in the feudal era we used to figure things out together, but now you want to solve everything!"

"I don't know what I'm dealing with and I didn't want you to worry." He got up to reason with her but she quickly stepped away having none of his words.

"This is about me Inuyasha. If anything I should be trying to keep you from my problems."

This time it was Inuyasha's turn to glare. "Are you trying to say something? That you're hiding something from me?"

"No, but from the way you, Miroku, and Kaede have been conspiring I'd think you're the one hiding something."

"I'm not-" He froze in his words, apparently he had underestimated Kagome's intuition.

Rolling her eyes she slumped to sit back on the desk. "God, I knew it. So what other dilemma is there?"

"I think the one at hand is enough to deal with."

"Inuyasha." Her tone was firm and her eyes piercing.

His demon did not appreciate his mate being this aggressive. Pushing out of his chair he knocked his chair back to slam against the window with unexpected force. Looming over her he scowled. "Don't fucking use that tone with me bitch."

Red was seeping into his eyes and jagged stripes creeping across his face. Kagome gulped as she tried standing her ground. "I-inuyasha. . ."

Hearing her voice tremble with his name he threw his head back laughing. "You're not afraid of my demon huh? I knew you'd eat your words sooner or later." Bringing his more-than-usual deadly sharp claws to her face he grinned. He let his thumb trace the apple of her cheeks leaving a cut as it trailed down. "Woops. When I get back to myself I know I'll be pissed off for doing this to you, that'll scar you know. It will remind me everyday, every time I look at your face."

Her hand fumbled across the edge of the desk and tried to back track toward the door and away from him. She had promised him that if he were ever to go into full demon mode she would run, and now she wished she ran the moment she saw the red in his eyes. But something within her told her not to be afraid of him, because he was Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, it's me."

His eyes softened and she was hopeful for a split second but all was crushed when a sinister cackle left him. "I know it's you Kagome. Right now, that's not your problem."

Backing up to the point where her back came in contact with the door she tried to reach for the doorknob but Inuyasha quickly put a stop to that. Gripping her wrist he tugged her with enough force to slam her against his desk. Crumbling to the floor from the impact Kagome looked up at him. "Inuyasha. You don't want to do this."

He stepped up to her fallen form and shrugged, "Maybe I don't. We'll find out when I'm back to normal I guess."

Grabbing the front of her shirt he hauled her up to be wedged between him and the desk. Tearing through her shirt and soon ripping off her bra as well Kagome tried to cover herself with her arms. "No! Stop this!"

Leaning forward he whispered with his hot breath scorching her ear. "I already know your body Kagome." He let his claws traced down her hip to travel back up her leg and under her skirt. "Every night since our first. It's hardly rape when you beg for it every time."

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she trembled but still tried to pull away from him. "Not like this. . . Please, stop!"

Reeling back he bared his fangs and Kagome was shocked still when she saw that his eyes still held the man that she loved; the man that was about to rape her. Feeding off the fear radiating off of her he tore off her skirt, but suddenly he was pulled away by her voice.

"Whose soul?"

Looking up to the door he saw Kagome fully clothed and smiling at him. Noticing the phone in his hand and Guy Donohue speaking to him on the other line Inuyasha stared at woman across the room. Seeing the look on his face Kagome furrowed her brows and walked over to him.

"Are you okay?" Kneeling before him she placed her hand upon his knee and gazed up at his face.

Hanging up on Guy and reaching down with his normal clawed hands he traced the cheek that he had only minutes ago cut. But what met his fingers was the smooth unmarred skin of her face. "How?"

Still cradled within his hand she titled her head. "Inuyasha?"

Pulling away his hand as if burnt, Inuyasha pushed away to stand up from his chair. "Get out of here."

Getting up as well Kagome approached the hanyou that at the moment acted like a caged animal. "What's wrong Inuyasha?"

"Don't get close to me!" He backed away as far as he could from her and Kagome held a hurt look in her eyes.

"What did I do?"

He shook his head still trying to shake away the images of what his demon had just tried to do. The feel of her under his hands and how he had hurt her, it was still all very much present and he couldn't think that he had imagined all of it. But that seems to be exactly what happened. This had to stop. The last vision made him question the walls between reality and what was contained within his mind.

"Don't walk away from me, please! I can help, don't shut me out!"

Help. She can help. Grabbing her in firm grip on either side of her upper arm he looked into her eyes with desperation. "Take this rosary off of me."

Freezing in place she stared at him. "Your rosary?"

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A/N: I think the story is moving along nicely. . . granted I might be losing some readers but I hope to get them back when they see that I'm trying to update as much as possible, which is sadly not as often as I hope it would be. Well review to keep me motivated!

I haven't done this in a while, but I think the loyal reviewers deserve it:

WickedGame: thank you for not taking me off your alert list and not giving up on me just yet!

LonelySoul828: I'm glad you liked the bit I threw in about her dad, and no, they never really talk about what happened to her dad.

Mrs. Kori Ander Grayson: blushes I still wonder the sanity of anyone that compliments my fic like you did but I appreciate it so much! I'm a writer at heart and feedback is what I live off of.

dieforinuyasha: haha, yes they finally did it. I feel like such a dude when I'm so happy for Inuyasha for getting laid, hahahahaha

ori-chan & silveryuki06: you two are the only one that mentioned them getting engaged! I mean it was a pretty big step for the noncommittal hanyou... sigh

animemistress419, IchikoKitsuneKoumori, Tahitianbabe, RanDOMaZnWRIteR,susie202, kili, Sammy-Sama: thank you all for your reviews! These chapters are for all of you!

And mediaminer reviewers you are not forgotten!

Thanks you to: tinkerbell-not, inuluvr02, and the anonymous 'new reviewer' that gave me so much feedback!

Click that blue 'GO' button! Till next time! C ya!


	20. I know why the caged bird sings

1Author Notes: uh. . . people don't want me to get rid of the rosary. . . uh. . . it's apparently too cute to take off him. . . it's not like I'm chopping his ears off or anything, calm down.

Disclaimer: Inu & Co. belongs to someone that's not me. . .

". . ." dialogue

'. . .' thoughts

**I know why the caged bird sings**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

With charred hands Kagome sat shamefully on the couch in the living room. Seeing the look on her friend Sango sat down next to her and patted her back. "It's not your fault Kagome."

The girl in question nodded silently and the occupants of the room could do nothing but stand about. After Inuyasha had his small bout of hysteria in his office they had headed home and when the rest of the house's temporary occupants arrived Kagome had attempted in taking off the rosary. . . to little avail.

Kaede looked over to the stoic look upon Inuyasha face as he stared out the window and sighed. "There are ancient powers here at work that even you cannot control Kagome. We will figure this out."

Glancing toward the woman Kagome gave a word of thanks as she rose from her seat. Hiding her burnt hands with in the long sleeves of her shirt she slipped out of the room. Watching the depressed miko leave, everyone brought their attention upon the hanyou.

"You can't blame her Inuyasha."

Hearing the words of the monk he turned toward him with a glare. "I know that."

"Then I want to know why you didn't comfort her."

Standing up he shrugged. "And tell her what?"

Miroku froze in retaliation when he didn't know what to say. What should have Inuyasha said to comfort Kagome? The other occupants of the room had spoken any words of possible sympathy, and they proved to have no effect on the dejected Kagome. Nodding in understanding Miroku backed down and allowed the hanyou to leave the room as well.

Looking toward the old miko Miroku smiled sadly and lethargically, "Shall we try to find a solution to this problem?"

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In the bathroom connected to Inuyasha's. . . er, her. . . their bedroom, Kagome sighed. Gazing down upon her hands she shook her head out of her dazed state and flushed them under the water. Flinching as the cool liquid came in contacted with her burnt and blistered skin she sucked it up and kept them under. The numbness that the water brought was a welcomed feeling as Kagome finally shut off the faucet and went about cleaning her wounds.

Sitting upon the edge of the tub Kagome fell into a destructively pensive mood.

Why hadn't she been able to remove the rosary? She had always assumed, along with everyone else, that the only thing between Inuyasha and freedom from the rosary was a quick lift of her arms. But according to what had occurred in the living room that very afternoon, rosary removal proved to be something a bit more complicated.

Evidence of that could be found upon her hands. At the hasty and amateur-like attempt of taking the rosary off she was met with a surge of dark energy collecting itself underneath her palms. For a good minute she didn't think much on it as she tried tugging the futile thing over the hanyou's head. Only thing she was met with was a searing charge of dark energy, which her miko powers had retaliated on its own regard to send both Inuyasha and Kagome slamming to opposite sides of the room. Inuyasha was soon to get up from the ground and come to her side as she lay still. After a few gentle shakes from the hanyou for her to come back to consciousness she awoke in shock; sending another blast of miko energy and in turn Inuyasha flying across the room.

After a few attempts at apologies toward Inuyasha and his bruised ego that were met with more uncontrolled miko energy aimed at the poor hanyou, Kagome decided that she was better to be a good distance away from him. Which brings us to the present moment of our heroine.

"You okay there Kagome?"

Looking up to notice the silent intruder in her room she smiled, "Hey Kouga. . . yeah, I'm okay."

"Sorry I wasn't here to witness you blasting Inuyasha across the room."

"You weren't there for that? Well, if you stick around there might be a repeat performance. . ."

Smirking he took a seat next to her, "I heard about that too. I wouldn't worry too much about it, knowing the idiot he'll bounce right back."

"And probably try to kill you for coming into his room." She glanced at the wolf demon that had boldly and arrogantly sat upon her shared bed with Inuyasha.

He shrugged in response. "Probably."

"So to what do I owe you doing this daring feat then?"

"I thought about talking to Inuyasha before I came to you. . . but I figured I'd just tell you and skip that annoying fiancé of yours."

Shaking her head she smiled, "You seriously haven't changed."

Tilting his head to look into her face he grinned, "You finally smiled." Sitting back to get away from Kagome's personal space Kouga sighed. "Matsuhito came into my office today."

Eyes widening, her smile was gone. "What did he want with you?"

"Made me a proposition."

"What could he offer you that you don't have?"

He peered at her from the corner of his eye as he gave his answer. "You."

Unconsciously she scooted a bit a way from him and gulped. "I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean."

He let out a laugh, "I know you're not that innocent Kagome. Anyways, he offered me your body in return of my services."

"Services?"

"Extract your soul and put it into this nifty sphere." He pulled out a crystal ball that was roughly the size of a baseball. "See I chant this ancient rune and your soul gets sucked out."

"T-that simple huh?"

"Pretty much."

"Then why didn't he do it? Why hire you?"

"He would have done it himself but you quit on him before he realized who you really were."

"Why me?"

He raised an eyebrow in amusement. "You're a goddess. I'm not sure if he figured that part out but he knows you have an unnatural amount of miko energy. A soul like yours can fetch a good amount of power. Or something else he has planned, he wasn't really clear about that."

"So you're here to collect?"

The implications of what she was saying donned on him and Kouga laughed. "You actually think I'm here to take your soul?"

Seeing the long-time friend laugh Kagome sighed, wondering why she even doubted him. "Sorry, just with everything happening. . ."

Smiling he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Don't worry about it."

"I'd be worrying about that arm of yours if you don't get it off her."

Both occupants of the bed looked up to see an irritated hanyou leaning on the doorframe. Kagome smiled at him cautiously. "Hey."

Seeing her hesitation Inuyasha sighed, "Don't worry about before."

She nodded. "Seems like that's all everyone is telling me to do these days -don't worry."

"Well I think I told you plenty to worry about."

Turning to look at the man with his arm still wrapped around her shoulders Kagome tilted her head. "What do you think we should do about him?"

"I have an idea but I know your fiancé there isn't going to like it."

Inuyasha growled, "What the hell are you two talking about?"

Kagome brought her attention back to Inuyasha, "We know who's after my soul."

"Matsuhito." He cringed at his own answer. He had known and had not told her immediately, he could hear the argument that would stir up at the moment.

"Oh. . . you knew."

"Yeah. I found out today, right when you came in to see me. . . I didn't get the chance to tell you."

She shrugged, "Oh well."

Kouga laughed at the look on Inuyasha's face. "You expected an earful huh?"

"Well yeah, going on past trends I should have been sat through this floor and the next right into the basement."

Rolling her eyes she shrugged out of Kouga's arm to stand up. "Forget about that. We need to figure out what we're going to do with this new information."

Kouga was the first to speak, "I have an idea, and as an added bonus it's foolproof to piss Inuyasha off."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Standing in the yard of Inuyasha's outrageously large house Sango glanced about the trees. A rudimentary blowgun in hand she brought it to her lips as she carefully aimed toward a high branch. A poison-tipped feather dart shot out with extreme precision and a resounding pathetic chirp could be heard. With the thump to the patch of grass by the trees Sango trotted up and picked up the dying bird. "I feel horrible doing this."

"I'm sorry." Kagome responded as she came up to rest a hand upon her friend's shoulder.

Sango shook her head smiling sadly. "Don't be sorry. It's either you or this bird. That's not a decision I have to think about."

Nodding the miko took the bird within her hands, "Thank you." Turning around she faced Kouga and the rest of the house's occupants. "So only a little bit right?"

Miroku smiled from Sango's side, "Yes, we don't want you to lose your soul so just seep a bit of your aura into the bird."

Gazing down upon the bird with the steadily decreasing pulse Kagome concentrated and imagined a bit of her aura surrounding the small creature. With a nod from Kagome, Kouga started to chant the slightly altered rune. Everyone watched on as the soul leaked out of the bird and into the glass orb that the wolf demon held. The process soon ended and Kouga turned the orb in his hands then tossed it to Inuyasha.

Catching it deftly he concentrated on the glass ball and sighed, "Yeah, it feels like Kagome's soul is in here."

Kaede stepped up to the unusually quiet hanyou and questioned. "Are you positive? This plan and possibly Kagome's life hangs in the balance."

Glaring at the old woman he shoved the ball into her hands. "If I didn't know any better I would think that Kagome's soul is really in there okay? Now leave me the fuck alone." Spinning on his heal he stomped toward the house.

"Inuya-" Kagome turned toward Kouga that held a hand upon her shoulder stopping her from following the hanyou inside.

"Give him a little room. Place yourself in his situation, you wouldn't be in a good mood either."

Nodding she sighed, "I suppose so. . ."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sitting in the middle of the bed Kagome sighed as she looked upon Inuyasha's position facing away from her. "Are you going to be like this all night?"

She waited for a response but received none. Crawling up behind his sitting form she wrapped her arms around his torso. "If there were another way you know I'd choose it."

He turned his face purposefully away from her. "Keh."

Furrowing her brows in anger she pulled away from him abruptly and wrapped herself in a robe. "If you're going to be like that I'm going lea-"

Silenced by Inuyasha swift movement into a deep kiss, she panted when they pulled apart. Looking into her eyes he whispered, "Don't leave. It's just. . . I can't feel your soul and it scares me."

Nodding she stroked his hair. "It's the spell to suppress my soul. If we're going to try to fool Matsuhito we have to cover all bases."

"I know."

Seeing the distress in his eyes she leaned up to seal her lips on his. Kissing along his jaw she whispered in his ear. "This isn't real. Please don't doubt me."

Looking down upon her intensely he caressed her cheek, "I get this feeling that this is the last time we're going to be together like this."

"Don't say that." She smiled up at him, "We have forever."

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A/N: I know, short chapter for such a long wait, but this chapter is vital to get the story going. I see the end coming soon. I think in about five chapters (don't quote me on that).


	21. The Stolen Doll

Author Notes: For the life of me I couldn't get to upload my word document. . . so i had to copy and paste it into notepad, hope that doesn't screw everything up. so here is the chapter 3 days late. . . I can't believe I'm finally updating. . . I have been getting distracted by drawing and discovering 'Bleach' (not necessarily drawing only Bleach) . . . my friend thought that it was the best idea in the world to lend me twenty something volumes of the 'Bleach' manga. When I start reading a manga and I really enjoy it, I get obsessive. I start drawing fanart and thinking of potential fanfics. . . because seriously, I need another fanfic to juggle (sarcasm intended). . . another bad thing to distract me. . . rereading of Rurouni Kenshin manga! I forgot how much I love it! Sigh, I might even do a fanfic with my beloved Kenshin and Kaoru again. . . but I swear, I won't start anything until I finish Remembering You. . . which is probably not going to happen within the year of 2006. . . sigh. . . enjoy the chappie anyways 

Disclaimer: Inuyasha not mine ". . ."

dialogue '. . .' thoughts

**The Stolen Doll **

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

"Don't be so jealous Inuyasha, you know this isn't for real."

The hanyou frowned at Miroku's words. "This isn't going to turn out well."

In response he nodded. "It's not the safest plan, but it's the only one we could think of. We want to put an end to this as soon as possible."

"Keh."

Sango rolled her eyes from her seat in the limo. "He's just grumpy about having to go stag tonight for the Tokyo Association of Bankers' Ball."

"She's my fiancé! She should be with me not with that idiot wolf."

Miroku shook his head, "You can't say those kinds of things tonight. Look, for this plan to work you're going to have to pretend to hate her. The story is that you caught her cheating on you and that she's now with Kouga. I know this won't be the easiest thing for you, but for her safety you're going to have to pretend."

Inuyasha scowled as they arrived at the ball, but was able to maintain his silence.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Where do you think you're putting your hand Kouga?"

The wolf demon in question smiled innocently as he wrapped his arm around Kagome's waist. "I promise that it won't go below the belt."

She looked at him flatly, "Or any higher than where you have it now right?"

He continued smiling and kissed her on the forehead. Pulling back a little he whispered as he continued to smile. "You're going to have to seem happier to be with me for this to be convincing."

She sighed and nodded. "I'll try my best."

"God, am I that difficult to pretend to like?"

Hearing the humor in his voice she shook her head. "You have no idea."

Coming upon the steps that would lead down to the main ballroom Kouga whispered in her ear. "This is it. If you even remotely have an actress's bone in your body this is the moment to start using it and pretend that you love me."

She flinched at his words a bit, but soon gathered herself to smile back at him. "I'm sorry I couldn't love you."

Leaning forward he kissed her lips chastely, "That's not something for you to apologize about."

Seeing that she was trying to compose herself after the kiss Kouga grinned and guided her down the steps. As she was taking each step with care so as not to trip over her dress, she was too distracted to catch the seething look upon a certain hanyou's face as he looked on from the corner.

"Don't be angry with her Inuyasha, it's only an act."

He glared at Miroku as he growled. "He didn't have to kiss her in front of me. And where does she get off wearing that dress?"

"What are you talking about? It seems like a perfectly fine dress."

"Look, he's on a date with him. She dressed like that for him. Not for me, him. For the idiot that couldn't fight if not for the help of the shikon shards."

Miroku glanced at Kagome who had on a stunning full-length burgundy satin gown with her hair half swept up and the rest in waves down her back. He smiled at the sight and shook his head as he faced the hanyou once again. "Do you actually think that she wore that dress for Kouga?"

"She's kissing him isn't she?"

"If she was dressing for Kouga she would not have worn something in a tone of red, and would not have bugged Sango about what to wear for six hours- while repeatedly asking: 'do you think Inuyasha will like it?'"

A small smiled tugged on his face at the monks words, but he soon shook it off. "I have to keep a front of looking pissed off." His gruff answer was softened as he mumbled under his breath as he walked past his friend. "Thanks."

The night continued on without Inuyasha and Kagome exchanging words. Just to keep up the act Inuyasha would give a glaring look at Kouga with his arm wrapped around Kagome. Then again, it wasn't completely an act. While dancing one of the many songs of the night Kagome froze in mid-step causing Kouga to fumble. "What's wrong Kagome?"

Looking into his eyes with wide ones Kagome whispered. "He's here."

Discreetly turning their bodies to be facing the entrance, Kouga nodded. "Don't get nervous. Just act vacant. Remember, like a doll."

She gulped and tilted her head down to be guided by the wolf demon's steps. Kouga kept her close as the song continued. When he felt a tap on his shoulder he squeezed her hand in assurance then turned his head. "Good evening Mr. Matsuhito."

A smile curled around the man's lips as he nodded. "Yes, a good evening it is Mr. Senshi. I was wondering if I could cut in and dance with your beautiful date."

Furrowing his brows Kouga leaned in and whispered harshly into Matsuhito's ear. "That was not part of the deal. I'll give you the orb and that's it. She belongs to me."

The man let out a huff of air that sounded like a laugh. "You're in no position to be saying such things. I can easily make her fall in love with a random man at this very party -even Inuyasha. So I would recommend for you to step aside like a gentleman right now and let me have the remainder of this dance."

He glanced from the passive expression that Kagome held to the smug one on Matsuhito's face. "I'm keeping the orb with me until you give her back."

He smiled and bowed. "Of course."

Whipping around, he headed for the edge of the dancing couples, where Miroku grabbed his arm. "What's going on Kouga?"

"He wants to fucking dance with her. He threatened that he could cast a spell for Kagome to fall in love with another guy here." Turning to keep an eye on Kagome and Matsuhito he growled. "To keep up this act I had to go along with it."

"Did you give him the orb?"

"No."

Nodding the monk stepped away form the wolf demon. Sango questioned Miroku as he came up to where he had left she and Inuyasha. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm not completely sure. Just don't let Kagome out of your sights. I have a bad feeling about this."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Are you enjoying your evening Miss Kagome?"

She nodded slowly as she tried to compose herself as she danced with a man she detested.

"We miss you at Hitobito no Ginkou you know."

She nodded.

"But I'm sure your new job at Touken Ginkou is just as promising for a career path."

She nodded.

"What I don't understand is why you're willing to fuck your new boss but not me."

She twitched a bit but tried to keep calm and looked up at him with quiet eyes.

"I guess it's all that history between you two isn't it? Really, visiting you at the shrine when you were a child. . . he's practically a pedophile and you're fulfilling his every fantasy."

Her eyes widened a bit but soon were back to normal, but her mind was reeling and going into panic.

"Or maybe it's not that history that made you fuck him. Maybe it's everything that happened back then, you know, when you first met on your fifteenth birthday."

She froze at that and there was no recovering from it. Stepping back and her words trembled. "W-who are you?"

With a sinister smile he swept in and pulled her to his arms as if to continue dancing and whispered into her ear. "Your dance partner and a very old friend."

She suddenly felt his aura surrounding her. Trying to pull away from the tight grip he had on her wrist, she frantically looked for Inuyasha in the crowd. When their eyes met she saw the panic in his gaze as he began to rush over. He wouldn't make it to her in time. Eyes wide and unblinking she mouthed a name she thought to be long dead.

In the next moment the aura seeped into her skin and she vanished along with her dance partner. No one but Inuyasha, Kouga, Miroku, and Sango seemed to notice as the ball continued on. Coming to the place the miko had just been Kouga looked to Inuyasha. "What just happened?!"

Inuyasha growled as he glared at the spot where the two had been standing moments ago. "Naraku!"

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It was like a vortex surrounded her. She couldn't breathe. Her lungs felt like an unseen hand was squeezing them and her skin cut with tiny alcohol covered razors. Her very being was being pulled apart and she could only wait for her end. Then it stopped.

Taking in a ragged breath and falling to her knees onto unforgiving marble floors she thanked god that it was over. Steadying her breath she looked up and her breath froze again. There stood her former boss and nemesis.

"Don't look at me like that Kagome, I always thought I treated you well."

Backing up a bit then raising to her feet she glared at Matsuhito. "I don't consider being sexually assaulted as being treated well."

"It's not sexual assault if you wanted it."

"I never wanted it!"

He grinned as he looked her over. "This is exactly what I wanted. Your aura flairs every time you get angry."

Her aura receded almost suddenly and she changed the subject. "Do you actually think you can hide from Inuyasha? He knows my smell better than anyone else's, he's going to find me long before you have time to prepare yourself."

"Know your smell? Oh Kagome, you just revealed that your dear Inuyasha is a youkai, a filthy hanyou at that. . . I hid myself from him for a pretty long time five centuries ago, I don't see why old tricks won't work."

"Five centuries. . . I was right, you are Naraku."

Matsuhito raised an eyebrow at her statement. "I haven't gone by that name in years."

Straightening her spine, she looked directly into his eyes trying to hold back the fear that bubbled up from the memories. "We killed you."

A pensive expression fell upon him. "You're right. . . you did. . ." He rolled his eyes. "Are you actually convinced that only the so-called 'good' are reincarnated? All of you really should have better prepared for this."

"For what? The second coming of Naraku?"

He smiled at her, "For your second calling of course. I'm so proud to be involved with both."

She gulped down the dryness that suddenly appeared in her throat. "How do you know about that?"

"Research. People underestimate the power of really good research now days. It's not all about action, sometimes we need to think before we act."

"If you know about the second calling you know that I'm supposed to rid the world of evil. Shouldn't you be afraid of me? Running for the hills even?"

She could only hope that this desperate attempt at a threat would work. The response she ended up with was a struggled to be held in laughter. "Afraid of you? Evil is never afraid of good. We are what defy it. Good is afraid of us."

Steeling her gaze she titled her chin up. "I'm not afraid of you."

"I know you're not. I'm not here to have a battle of wits here. I just brought you to collect your soul."

"How did you know Kouga was lying?"

He shook his head. "Because I knew he wouldn't do it from the very beginning. I was just waiting for him to give you to me on a silver platter, all the while thinking he had one up on me."

"Why my soul?"

"Are you really that dense? Think about whose soul you have."

This was a topic that she hated. Being the reincarnation of the woman that cast a very large shadow. Kagome bit the words out with pure venom. "I'm not Kikyou. I'm not her reincarnation."

"I know that. But I want you to think Kagome, and don't hurt yourself while doing that. Whose soul is neatly tucked into your body?"

Her expression got darker as she stated: "Mine."

Matsuhito nodded, "Exactly. That's the same soul that has an amazing amount of miko power. But I wouldn't be bothering you if it were only miko powers. That soul is that of a god's and I don't think you realize how valuable it is. You really don't deserve it. You wouldn't know the difference between your own soul and that of a bird's found in Inuyasha's backyard."

Her eyes widened, "You've been spying on us."

"Oh I've seen everything Kagome." He looked her over once again, but this time with what can only be considered a violating leer. "Everything."

"That's impossible." She gasped out as she subconsciously wrapped her arms around herself.

He shrugged. "You're right. But I've seen everything Inuyasha has."

Kagome tried to deal with the horror of having Matsuhito. . . no, Naraku, being a witness to the most intimate moments in her life. She was the most vulnerable when she was with Inuyasha, and she was also the strongest. Inuyasha knew everything about what she had gone through and everything that they would go through in the future. Naraku had a full deck and he saw through her every bluff. But how? There was no way that he could know everything that Inuyasha knew- Her eyes widened in realization and she seethed. "His rosary!"

"Wow. That took you less time than I thought in figuring it out. But you know what surprises me more? Inuyasha never told you about the voice in his head."

Kagome looked at him incredulously. "What voice?"

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A/N: I think the never-ending drama of Inuyasha is starting to tire me out. . . I'm starting to only read fanfiction that is AU, just so I don't have to deal with keeping up with the story. I almost want the manga to end just so I can get Inuyasha out of my system. . . sigh. . . I know I'm going to cry when it ends though (ok, maybe not cry). I'm just ready to get this fic over with so that I can write 'Quadrille of War' where I get to choose the drama. I'm sorry for the short chapter. . . I think they'll be relatively short from now on. . . or frighteningly long. . . we'll see


	22. Forever Waiting, Forever Chasing

1Author Notes: It's been nine unforgivable months since the last chapter update, and this is the last chapter of 'Remembering You.' The only thing left after this is a bit of a lengthy epilogue. I'm writing that quickly after this, because I have wanted to write the epilogue more than the last chapter... I don't think I have ever had more trouble writing a chapter than I have this one. I was stuck on one seen for months and it took forever to wrap everything up. I also felt like I left out a lot of potentially good description and the chapter reads a bit rushed (but that might be just because I've reread it a billion times by now). And as much as Inuyasha had been tiring me, 'Remembering You' was still hard (if not impossible) to let go of. This has been four years in the making (that's 20 of my life if you think about it). I knew what I was going to write for the ending long before I even had the third chapter written. I know this fanfic has been a long wait for all those reading but I hope you can forgive me. With the last years of high school and first two years of college being bridged by this fanfic, I know that it will be a very big turning point for me. I am not sure if I will continue on with fanfics after this, but it has been a trip. I learned so much from all this. I hated a lot of it (especially writers block) and loved most of it. I hope to hear from all the readers again someday, maybe when I'm writing another fanfic. But until then I had a blast. So, like usual: enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and the gang do not belong to me, and I make no monetary profit from writing about them.

**Forever Waiting, Forever Chasing**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

"Where are you going Inuyasha?!" The monk yelled after the hanyou as he raced out of the ballroom.

"Back to the house! I'll meet you there!" With that Inuyasha raced away into the buildings of downtown Tokyo.

"We're never going to be able to catch up with him. Come on, let's go get the car." Hearing Sango's words Miroku nodded only to see Kouga rushing past them and heading in the same direction as Inuyasha.

"Do you think they know something we don't?"

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God knows it wasn't the first time she had gotten kidnapped. Back in the feudal era there were four things that were predictable: Inuyasha was hungry for ramen; Miroku was trying to cop a feel; Sango was hitting Miroku; and Kagome was getting kidnapped. It had gotten ridiculous after a while. Her most frequent kidnapper had been Naraku, and she really had no idea that he would be reincarnated only to pick up on the habit again.

When queried about a voice that was apparently talking to Inuyasha in his head, the arch nemesis of countless years just smirked and turned away. After a failed attempt at blasting him with some good old-fashioned miko energy, Kagome was left in the room as he disappeared into the shadows. She had forgotten that he was human. . . well, as far as she could tell. He had a good stock of impressive powers, but human nonetheless. And that was the moot point. Her miko energy could harm no human, only protect them, and she was in no hurry to protect Matsuhito. . . er, Naraku.

Sitting against the tall marble columns in the large darkened room she sighed. The heels that she had worn to the ball had been an inch too high for comfortable long-term use and she prompted to take them off. The cool marble of the floor soothed the aching balls of her feet but also sent a shiver that went straight to her core. This was not exactly how her nightmares pictured it when Naraku captured her yet again. There were no bleeding bodies strewn about as decoration. There was no torture. There were no lewd comments and promises of ripping off Inuyasha ears. There was only the large marble room and the impending doom of what was to happen.

Kagome had felt around the room for a way out, when she finally came upon a pair of large doors she was disappointed to find that it would be impossible to open. With a demonic ofuda placed upon the door she had been sealed in. Nothing would leave this room. Not her body, aura, nor sent. Her sent. . . her hope of Inuyasha finding her was through her sent and that had been taken away far too easily.

Lying down against the cold floor she took in deep breaths as she contemplated an escape route. The question was if she did escape where would it lead her? Was she in Tokyo anymore? Or was she in a different dimension? It was hard to tell with the lack of windows, but judging by the architecture she could only guess she was still in modern times. What country? That was really up to question.

Closing her eyes and formulating a plan she allowed the humming of the room soak in. Wait. Humming?

Snapping her eyes open she turn her head to press her ear against the floor. There was a definite humming of an air conditioner. Each wall and ceiling had been tacked with an ofuda, but the floor hadn't been. It was the only thing that was not immune to her powers and it was the only thing she could see as potential escape.

Sitting upon her knees she fumbled for the clutch that she now thanked the lord she had decided at last minute to take to the ball. Taking out the red lipstick she had brought for touch-ups through the night she grinned. This could work. She could escape. And this time, she wasn't the damsel in distress waiting to be rescued.

Twisting the lipstick out she quickly and deftly drew out an incantation circle upon the floor.

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The doors slammed as he opened the closet in haste. Pulling out a large lacquered black box from the back he set it on the bed and tore off the lid. Within the box, lay dormant the armor of his past. Tugging off his tuxedo blazer and making quick work of his shirt, Inuyasha donned his companion of many years. He was soon dressed in his fire rat robes and made his way toward the door of his room. Marching down the steps he found himself in the living room with the rest of the group already gathered.

"How are we going to find her?"

Hearing the question from the small fox demon Inuyasha answered. "Her ring. I was worried that something like this might happen down the line so I had a spell cast on her engagement ring."

"What kind of spell?"

"It will find her, and tell me where she is. . . as long as she is still in this plane of reality."

"Like a tracking device? God, you're lucky Kagome didn't know about this earlier. She would have killed you." Sango pointed out, but was grateful nonetheless for Inuyasha's possessive ways that solved the problem.

"I had suggested it to him. Rin's ring is under the same spell. A youkai can never be too careful on the safety of her mate." Sesshoumaru said. "We feel a constant connection with a our mates. If someone were to cut off that tie it would leave our youki restless. The ring is more for peace of mind than anything else."

"He's already used it twice." Rin added nonchalantly.

Going over to a table, Inuyasha laid out a map of Tokyo. Waving for Miroku to come over he gave him a peace of carbon. "Make it work monk."

Nodding Miroku went to work writing symbols across the map in what everyone else could only determine as random areas. Then he connected the lines from one character to another and the result was a web intersecting lines. There wasn't a neighbor hood in Tokyo that wasn't a point of intersection of two of these lines. Standing up he raised both arms, palms down, and started reading off the characters. As each character was said, the line between two characters would light up. By the end the map was glowing with the illumination of all the lines. Suddenly all the lights concentrated in the center, but went out in an anticlimactic dim.

"I'm sorry Inuaysha." The monk sighed as he lowered his hands. "He's put her in a place where nothing can come out. . . I'm not even sure if she's in Tokyo anymore."

With the stern shake of his head Inuyasha answered, "No, she's still in the city. I don't know where in the city, but I know she's still here."

"Then it is up to her to escape to a place she isn't sealed so that we can find her."

"It's Kagome. She'll get out."

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Bare feet slapped quickly down the corridor of cement and winding pipes. Her heels long forgotten in the marble room and her dress hiked up and tied into knot at mid-thigh, Kagome raced down the underground tunnel.

The incantation circle had worked and created a hole in the ground, directly to the furnaces. At a quick glance at the labeling on the equipment she knew she was at least still in Japan, if not Tokyo.

Finding a jarred door that led to the tunnel she was presently running down, Kagome decided that the only way was to go forward. Being as how useful the contents of her clutch had been earlier she kept that at hand, and proceeded to slip on the engagement ring she had slipped inside the clutch before the evening had started. If she had known the plan would backfire she would have brought her bow and arrows, or ofudas at least. She had expected something, but nothing to this degree.

Coming to a door marked stairs, she wondered if going up would be the wisest thing. Naraku was likely to be upstairs and anywhere he was, was where she preferred not to be. Then again there was little she could do by staying down in the basement. She needed to figure out where she was and get out of there. She hoped to god that Inuyasha would be able to track her sent if she stepped foot outside of the building. With that hopeful thought, she flung the metal door open and sprinted up the steps.

Slamming the bar to open the door labeled 'ground floor' Kagome kept running blindly forward. It didn't matter what was in front of her, as long as it wasn't Naraku and it was a way out. She noticed that her feet were racing against marble again and that she was running down a long hall with multiple passages to rooms without doors. Glancing into one of the dimly illuminated room was a wall covered in ancient coins. In another room were slabs of stone from what she could only guess to be Egyptian. Room after room of ancient artifacts -Naraku had brought her to the history museum.

She could recall the last time she had been in this building. She had been in the sixth grade and it had been a school field trip. She remembered getting lost and receiving detention for 'wandering' off from the group. Having been drawn to a display case with a sorry looking ancient scepter she had thought that the detention was unwarranted.

But this was not the moment to reminisce about the days gone by. Her legs burned as she made her way through the winding halls. Finally coming upon the lobby of the museum, which ultimately was where the exit would be she sprinted toward the doors. With a firm grip on the handle she pushed at the door but was suddenly spun around by large hands. She pushed far enough to get a sent of the night air and hastily scrapped her engagement ring against the palm of her hand. With the partially blood-coated ring she threw it out the quickly closing door.

"Let go of me!" Struggling in the person's grasp Kagome kicked at his shins to no avail. Her freedom was so close and she was not about to give it up now.

"Calm down miss! I'm not going to hurt you!"

The voice was familiar but not Naraku's. She shot her head up to see that it was a museum guard. But the moment she noticed his face and not his uniform her eyes widened.

"Papa?"

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"She's out!"

Hearing Miroku yell from the living room everyone rushed over to the map. As hoped for, a small glowing dot appeared.

"The Edo-Tokyo Museum? Why would he take her there?" Shippou inquired looking around the crowd.

Inuyasha shook his head. "It doesn't matter." He rushed out of the room and into the night with those words.

Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes and looked toward Kouga, "We'll go to make sure he doesn't get killed. The rest of you can take the car."

Rin sighed and looked toward the rest of the people. "I have really bad feeling about this."

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Pictures that decorated the house for years were the only reminder for her of what her father looked like. But here he was, looking down at her with the same gray-blue eyes that she inherited.

"Excuse me?"

Hearing the guard's voice Kagome was pulled out of her stunned state and shook her head. "Sorry. . . It's just. . . you look like my father."

The man raised a brow, "Does he work here?"

"No. . . He died when I was a little girl."

"Oh, I'm sorry. But miss, I really do need you to come with me."

She tugged at the arm that was held within his grasp. "Please sir, I didn't come here to steal anything. You can check me if you want."

"You were in a history museum at this time of night. You're going to show up on the security camera, I can't just let you go without a report."

"I have people waiting for me. They're probably really worried." She felt his grip tighten as she attempted to free her arm again. "Please just let me-"

Her voice died in her throat and her eyes widened. There it was, a simple tattoo of three rings on the wrist. It was tattoo that symbolized her father's devotion to his family, each ring representing a person. Soon after being told by the doctors of his terminal brain tumor he had gotten the tattoo done. Her mother had told her that it was so that he could have his family with him in the afterlife. Kagome's arm went limp as she numbly looked up at the man. There were moments in life that changed a person -this would surely be one of them for Kagome. The familiarity of his face was not a coincidence to her, she was sure of it. He smirked down at her and shook his head, "I guess you figured it out."

She raised her other hand to take the security uniform hat off of his head and threw it aside. Using the same hand she traced the contour of the man's face. "Oh my god."

He rolled his eyes, "You're really that surprised to see me? I thought you would have expected these kinds of things by now."

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Coming to a stop in front of the museum Inuyasha frowned. He didn't need to run into the force-field to know that it was there. Naraku was a man of old tricks and this was his oldest. Only brief seconds past before he sensed his brother and Kouga standing behind him.

"You're an idiot." The stoic voice of his brother nagged at his senses.

Scowling he whirled around, "Don't fucking mess wi-. . . Is that tetsusaiga?"

Sesshoumaru tossed the ancient sword toward his brash little brother, "You ran toward battle without your sword... Your idiocy confounds me."

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes but turned back toward the massive building. Unsheathing the tetsusaiga he felt the comfort of having his old friend in his hands. There was a time when the sword had never left his side, but with the prohibition of swords being carried around a century and half ago, he had been forced to separate it from his person. Tying the scabbard to his waist like old times he drew the sword with deftness any kenjutsu practicing person would envy.

"Let's see if this thing still works."

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Kagome groaned. She really should have seen it coming. A person only needed to be knocked out by enemies a couple times to learn that consciousness was a key to survival. But here she was, again, trying to shake unconsciousness from her mind.

The guard had smirked down at her and slammed his knee into her stomach. Kagome was not a wuss to pain, especially after her escapades in feudal Japan, but every person had their limit. Hers was apparently the apparition of her dead father and quick jab in the gut. She seriously needed to work on her pain threshold.

She attempted to blink her eyes open but only darkness met her vision. The sensation of cloth over her eyes indicated a blindfold, but her tied hands disabled any means of escape.

"You're outside. On the roof top of the museum."

If nothing, Kagome was an expert on the art of getting kidnapped. She knew all the clichés and there was no trick too old that a cheesy villain didn't use. But hearing the voice of her dead father was something she hadn't been expecting.

"This isn't how I pictured my afterlife you know."

She frowned. Was he being sarcastic? There were more appropriate moments for this kind of sarcasm.

"The last thing I remembered was being at the hospital. I was surrounded by family -your mother, brother, grandfather, and you. I said the perfect last words to your mother and grandfather. I told you-"

"'To live a long happy life and find a person to love with all your being.'" Kagome faced him even though she couldn't see. This body was not about to tarnish her memory of her last moments with her father.

There was a pause then soft footsteps toward her. The cloth around her eyes was tugged away and she scrunched her eyes even in the dimly lit area. Getting used to the light she focused her gaze to the man before her.

He frowned down at her. "Don't hold what I do to you against me... your father. You know how this works. I don't have control."

Her answer was interrupted when a voice off to the side butted in. "Well, this is similar to the situation with Hojo isn't it?"

Kagome snarled at the man before her. He was her former boss and her present pain in the ass. "You don't get to talk about him."

Matsuhito smirked. "Which one? Your best friend or your father?"

"Neither!"

The image of her father smiled, "So you won't hold this against me..."

This time she snapped at the other man. "You are not my father. He died years ago. You are a body with memories."

Matsuhito frowned, "I was hoping that having him here would be more psychologically damaging."

She roared at him, "I'll make sure you have psychological damage!" She attempted to lunge at the man by scrambling up on her untied legs, but failed and landed in a heap on the hard cement instead.

A bored look crossed his face. "This is my great nemesis? A clumsy twenty-something girl waiting for her lap dog? It's disappointing really."

"Let's see how disappointed you are when I kill you!"

He rolled his eyes. "Isn't that what every heroine says?"

"You won't get away with this! You're still human! Inuyasha is a hanyou! He's stronger than you could ever hope to be!"

Picking up an old looking scepter from the ground he sad in a bored tone. "Again, clichés." He rolled his eyes. "Do you actually think that I didn't consider that? Trust me, I've prepared for this my whole life... By the way, your boyfriend is already here. He's just stupid enough to think that my barriers are the same as five hundred years ago. He really needs to give me more credit. Now, let's get this over with. I really can't wait to be a youkai again."

The cliché retort that she had ready died in her throat. "Youkai?"

"What did you think this was all about? Revenge?" He smirked, "I'm insulted that you think I'd be that petty."

"Then why are you using my father?"

"Because you destroyed your best friend without much thought. I can't just pick any dead person. I needed someone you wouldn't hurt."

Kagome seethed. "I'm going to kill you."

"You are? Is that a promise?" He gestured for Kagome's father to drag her toward a ritualistic circle he had arranged with different colored gemstones.

She struggled against her father's grasp. "What the hell is that for?"

Matsuhito smirked. "All this is set up just for you. I'm going to be extracting your soul."

Her eyes widened. "I'll die."

"No you won't. Your body will be an empty shell like your father's there, but you won't die... physically."

"If you take it out of me you'll never be able to use it. It would just go on to the next life."

He clapped his hands. "Bravo. You actually did your homework." He pointed toward the gemstones, "With the right amount of money you can buy these rocks at any jewelry store. Soul extraction isn't exactly difficult, but putting the soul where you want it –well, that's just a bit more difficult."

"Urasue almost succeeded." Anything that crazed old woman could do didn't seem like an ancient family secret.

He nodded, "Maybe if what I wanted was for your soul to go into a body made out of clay, then it would be that simple. But getting a soul into your own body? Well, that requires this." He twirled the scepter deftly in his hand. "This thing is not only old, but Chinese. Being a older civilization and all they have the magic completely figured out."

"How unpatriotic." She replied in a deadpan voice.

"Oh, don't say that. I love my country. It's just... I want to be running it. And your soul is going to help me with that."

"With your own soul and my soul in your body wouldn't you die from... soul overdose?"

He laughed, "That's why I'm using your soul and not just random Joe from the street. Your soul is different. It's a goddess' soul."

Kagome glared and corrected him, "It's my soul."

An amused grin split across his face. "Wakahirume's soul." He paused a moment, "Do you know how stem cells work?"

With a confused look on her face she responded. "Yeah, but does that have to do with anything?"

"That's how your soul is. It's like stem cell, it can be made to adapt into anything a human body needs. And I, personally, want to use it to have full youkai blood." Pointing the scepter toward he smirked. "Now, let's get started."

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"Shit!" Inuyasha glared at the building and the invisible barrier that protected it.

Kouga frowned and glanced at Sesshoumaru. "I thought tearing down force-fields was his specialty."

The older dog demon nodded. "It is... It should be. He's obviously gotten rusty without practice."

Inuyasha directed his glare toward the two. "Shut the fuck up."

Kouga sighed and crossed his arms. "That's mature."

"I'll show you some real immaturity if two don't shut up!"

Whirling back toward the building he readied his sword. Raising it he swung down. "Kongosoha!" Diamond shards shot out from the testsusaiga and pierced into the barrier.

Kouga's eyes widened, "Whoa."

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Matsuhito faltered in his concentration. "How- He broke the barrier?"

Kagome gasped for breath. The soul extraction had started and there was no incantation to slow Matsuhito down. It was a quick point of the scepter and some deep concentration.

She had felt her very being splitting part as her soul was being pulled out. Instead of coming out in one lump sum, it had spilled out of her in smaller portions. From what she guessed he had taken out about a quarter of her soul –if there was a way to guess such things.

Her breathing was struggled even during the pause. She was too weak. In her state she would not be able to defeat him on her own.

"Kagome!"

She struggled to turn her head in the direction of the voice but managed to nonetheless. A smiled spread across her face when she saw Inuyasha leaping onto the roof. Sesshoumaru and Kouga were right behind him. The two faced toward Matsuhito in fight-ready position as Inuyasha sprinted to her side. "Kagome!"

The girl in question laughed a bit, "You yelling my name out in desperation happens way to often."

Hearing her joking he smiled, "Our entire relationship consists of us yelling our names at each."

She nodded. "I'm glad you came."

He shook his head, "I told you I'd always protect you."

Kagome smiled at that, but then a frown appeared as she remembered something. "Why didn't you tell me about the voice."

Inuyasha was startled. "How did you- oh, then it _was_ Naraku."

"You didn't tell me."

He shrugged, "You had enough on your plate."

She huffed, "My plate is never full. I can't believe you didn't tell- ... the nightmares! I can't believe I didn't figure it out."

Inuyasha flinched slightly in response. "Surpise."

"The dreams. The hallucinations... that's why you wanted the rosary off!" Seeing the guilty look on his face she continued, "You told me it was because you guys figured out it was made by Naraku and it was only a precautionary measure!"

He frowned and argued back in true Inuyasha form. "How the hell was I supposed to tell you that I thought my youkai blood was telling me to kill you?!"

She froze at his words. It wasn't something completely foreign. He had confessed the contents of his dreams, and she had learned in the few introductory psychology classes she had taken to know that a dream is someone's subconscious sorting its conscious thoughts.

With the worried look making its way across her face he sighed. "I'm not going to let anyone kill you... especially not me."

Hearing the pained groan coming from Kouga they both looked toward where he lay.

"Kouga!" Inuyasha stopped her before Kagome could get closer to the wolf demon.

Inuyasha barked out an order, "You stay behind where it's safe!" He leapt forward to stand along side his brother. "You two said you would take care of him!"

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at him while Kouga got up from his position on the floor to yell at the half dog demon. "You never said he was going to be this fucking strong!"

Inuyasha furrowed his brows. "But he's human..."

Matsuhito laughed and Kagome yelled at the three demons fighting. "He's not entirely human anymore!" She took in a deep breath and continued to yell, "He's taken a forth of my soul already! He's part demon now!"

"Not just demon, priestess, but a demon made from the soul of a goddess." Matsuhito smirked, "I'm stronger than all four of you combined."

"We'll see about that!" Inuyasha brought his sword to his side and swung forward. "Kongosoha!"

"Meidou-Zangetsuha." The calm but stern voice of Sesshoumaru trailed after his brothers as a he swung tenseiga releasing a dark circle blasting its way toward Matsuhito.

A look of pure horror crossed Matsuhito, but quickly broke out into a sinister grin. Raising his hands he deflected both attacks without so much as a flinch.

Inuyasha growled. This was not how things were supposed to go. He had used his strongest attack against Matsuhito and he didn't even receive any damage, let alone die. Inuyasha glanced toward his brother, "We're going to have to go in."

Sesshoumaru simply nodded and followed his half brother's lead. Inuyasha took to Matsuhito's right and Sesshoumaru his left. Swinging simultaneously Matsuhito raised his right hand toward the older brother and the scepter to the other. He parried their attacks with deftness never seen before.

With Kouga's help Kagome pulled herself up. "What are we going to do? Nothings working..."

Kouga frowned as he looked toward the action. "I should help them."

She shook her head vigorously and tugged on his shirtsleeve. "You can't! You don't have a weapon like they do!"

Averting his eyes toward her he shrugged her weak grip off. "Watch me save the day Kagome."

He dashed forward into the action with Kagome yelling after him. She shook her head and desperately tried to stay on her feet. "He's not as fast without his jewel shards." Then it hit her, "Shikon no tama..."

"What about the jewel?"

She turned to her left to see her father standing there.

He frowned, "You completely forgot I was here didn't you?" Seeing the look on her face he sighed, "I knew it."

"Are you going to kill me now?"

He glanced over to Matsuhito and the intense fight going on and shrugged. "Not until he gives me the order. Look, I know you're trying to drill into you head and everyone's around that I am not your father... but in a way, to me, I am. I have the memories of raising you, so I do love you."

Suspicious of his words she stepped back physically. "If this is a way for you to get my guard down..."

He frowned, "I don't remember you being this paranoid." He looked toward the battle once again. "It's because that dog demon isn't it? He's made you stronger, but also more wary."

"Actually, that's from the fact that my dead father is standing before me on the enemy's side."

He smirked, "I see you also picked up some sarcasm." He looked her over, "Are you strong enough to kill me like you did Hojo?"

Kagome faltered at bit in her resolve but quickly composed herself. "What? Did you want me to put you out of your misery too?"

A sad smile crossed his face. "I wasn't hoping you would... but you need to keep your strength." Pulling a gun out of his holster he tossed it to her.

She raised an eyebrow at the weapon. "A security guard with a gun?"

He rolled his eyes. "Forget about that for a second. You're going to use that." Seeing the surprised look on her face he nodded, " The only way to destroy the walking dead is not just with miko energy. Brute force will do it. And with the modern technology there is nothing more commonly brute that a M1911 Colt pistol."

She trembled with the firearm in her hand now, the piece of metal having so much more significance. "You're going to make me kill you with a gun?"

"I can't do bodily harm to myself. That's why Hojo went to you... There was one thing that Matsuhito didn't see through in his oh-so-carefully laid out plans. He never expected the bodies he brought back to be so loyal to you."

She swallowed down the knot in her throat. "I've never held a gun before."

He smiled in response, "Who better to teach you than your old man?" He pointed toward the gun. "See that small lever on the side? That's the safety. Unlatch it." Hearing the metallic click he nodded. "Good girl. Now grip the top of the barrel and cock in back."

Still trembling Kagome pulled the cool metal back. The click echoed in her ears as she could physically feel something moving upward from the handle to the barrel.

"That was the bullet loading."

She looked up at him at his description and nodded. Pointing the gun at his chest she took in a deep breath.

"The head."

Her eyes widened. "What?"

"The head. Not the torso." Not hearing a response he smiled reassuringly. "Shoot me in the head -it'll be quicker for me that way." He stepped forward until he was only five feet away from her.

She took in a shaky breath and smiled nervously and tragically. "I can't believe I have to watch you die twice."

He grimaced at that. "Sorry."

"You're going to a better place right?"

He sighed. "My soul is already there. I'm just the memory of your father."

She shook her head. "No. I mean you, not my father... are you going to a better place?"

He was taken aback by her comment but smiled. "Even if you're not, in my eyes, you're my little girl." He stared at her one last time and shut his eyes. "I had no idea that you would grow up to be so beautiful... so much like your mother... I'll be at peace. I love you."

A tear slipped down her face. "I love you too... Papa." Steadying her hand she fingered the trigger. "Goodbye."

She squeezed the trigger and a resounding blast sent a bullet straight between her father's eyes. His eyes snapped open with the impact and he fell backward. Her arm fell to her sides as she stared upon what she had just done. The gun slipped from her fingers and she stepped toward the unmoving corpse.

"Kagome!"

A foot away from the body she turned her head around toward the male voice that called her. It was Miroku running toward her with Sango and Shippou on Kirara's back close behind him. He came up to her side and saw the man on the ground. Eyes widening he whipped his head toward her. "What happened?! Who is that?"

She stare blankly at the body, "That was my father."

"Your father? But I thought he was-"

"Dead?" She nodded, "Matsuhito brought him back."

"Like Hojo..."

She looked up at the priest and long-time friend. "Just like Hojo... I had to kill him." Steeling herself into strict resolve she took a deep breath. "We have to kill Matsuhito and destroy Naruku... for good this time."

Sango stepped forward gives her a bow and arrow. "No better way than the best way."

Taking the familiar weapon in her hands she nods. The four of them run toward the battle ready to jump in, but realizing that this was way beyond their league.

"I have to fight!" Shippou readied himself to jump in at any moment. He was startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Surprised, he looked toward the owner of the hand, "Kagome..."

"I know you've trained hard all these years but you're not ready for this."

"I am-"

She shook her head, "None of us are, not even those three fighting right now."

Watching carefully as Kouga lunged with a punch Naraku deflected the blow easily while ducking Inuyasha's sword and shooting an attack toward Sesshoumaru. The cycle in different sequences occurred continuously.

Sango along with the rest of them were getting restless. "This is insane. They're just getting more exhausted while he plays with them!"

Kagome did not divert her attention as she continued to observe the action. Then she saw the gap. Readying her bow and notching an arrow she aimed toward Naraku.

Miroku saw her movement, "You might hit one of them."

She continued to stare at Naraku, "I won't." She saw a moment when Naraku collected himself slightly when the three of them attacked at once, but in was only a split second. Allowing the practiced move she let the arrow fly. It barely slipped past Sesshoumaru between his right arm and rib as he turned, then it shot through Inuyasha's billowing hair then nicked Kouga's pants. It reached its final destination as it pierced Naraku's right shoulder. With the burn of the miko energy he backed away from the fatigued three. He floated above and a few feet away from the building.

They ran toward the three demons. Inuyasha was badly hurt with a gash running down his torso, Sesshoumaru was weakened and was noticeably breathing harshly, and Kouga was barely conscious.

Kagome looked at the condition of the three and furrowed her brows in worry. "We have to get them out of here."

Inuyasha took in a struggled breath. "We can't just leave Naraku free."

Seeing the obvious pain he was in made her nervous. There were only a few moments in the time that she knew him that he showed this much pain, he had barely survived each time. Turning her attention toward the sky she noticed it bleeding red. The trees around the building were withering. Miroku and Sango, the only full humans there could barely handle the poisonous nature of the air and the demons were starting to feel the effects.

She, herself, could feel the burn that seemed to resonate from her bones. This was far beyond anything any of them ever expected. Naraku was pulling the life energy from all living things around him. Kagome saw her friends struggling with the pain and then looked down at the love of all her lives as he was hanging onto conscious. She had felt this pain once before when her body had been possessed by the black miko and the infected shikon shard. Then she remembered an event that seemed so long ago now.

_'What use do you have with the jewel? Do you wish to purify it? You can only do that if you use it to destroy a great evil. But you didn't use it did you when you killed Naraku. You did not have it complete, you did not wish to risk letting even a small shard such as this one float around in this world.'_

Remembering her last moment with Kikyou she realized that there was only one thing left to do.

She looked at him with a regretful smile as she cradled his head. "I'm going to have to break that promise about never leaving you."

Inuyasha blinked slowly and took in her words. "What? What are you talk-" His attention was caught by Naraku as he saw the swirls of life energy flowing around him and growing black and turning into his signature miasma. It seeped into his skin and Inuyasha could feel him growing stronger.

"Inuyasha." Getting his attention back she looked at him sternly, "You have to get out of here."

He narrowed his eyes, "No."

"What do you mean no?"

Holding on determinedly to her wrist he shook his head as he sat up. "I'm not leaving here until he is gone and you're safe."

The firm expression upon her face melted as she gazed at him. "The only one that can stop him is me."

"What are you talking about? Sure, you're a good shot with the bow but you're no match for him alone."

She rested her forehead upon his. "There is a way to end this. All of this." She took his hand and brought it up to her heart. "This will end it."

Realization struck the hanyou like a lightening bolt. "No."

"It's the only way."

He shook his head in denial. "It's not the only way."

Stroking his cheek and gazing into his eyes she allowed tears to slip out. "The shikon no tama in my heart can stop him. It's whole now. It's not in shards like it used to be, it's more powerful than we remember it... It's also the only way to rid it from this world before it falls into the wrong hands one day."

The rest of the group stared at the couple and grasped what was going on and what it would mean. They could barely escape if they tried, there was little hope left.

Inuyasha continued to shake his head. "But we have no idea what using it will do to you."

She gave a forlorn smile. "I do."

Hearing her words he pulled her into a crushing embrace. "I'm not letting you do this."

Kagome wrapped her arms around him as well and whispered into his ear. "This is why I'm here. This is why we were allowed a second chance."

"Exactly." He continued on the conversation in an intimate lover's whisper. "It's our second chance no anyone else's."

"I'm sorry."

He choked back a sob, "I didn't wait this long for you just to lose you."

Pulling back but still within his arms she stroked his face and smiled sadly. "Please don't stop me." Pressing her lips against his, she poured out her soul to him. This would be the last time. The last of many kisses they shared and could have shared. Pulling away she stared into the eyes of the only person that ever understood her completely. "I love you."

Eyes widening he held onto her hand but quickly snapped it back. Staring at her glowing body he grabbed for her again as it burned his skin. "Don't do this."

She allowed for her miko energy to awaken the dormant shikon no tama. Letting a tear slip down her cheek she smiled. "You were always found me... so I'll be waiting."

Turning away with a force Inuyasha couldn't maintain a grip on, Kagome ran toward the edge of the building. Stopping on the ledge she glared at Naraku that smirked down at her.

"What? Come back to give me the rest of your soul?"

She wiped the tears from her eyes then smirked back at him. "Something like that." She turned her head and locked her stormy blue eyes with his fiery golden ones and she knew this was goodbye. Giving her best smile she turned away and leaped into the miasma.

The miasma soaked into her body and she could feel herself dying. Her mind seeped into a haze and her heart beat slower. As Naraku cackled at his supposed success she grinned. He had no idea what was coming to him. A brief second before she felt her life end she felt the miasma finally reach her heart and shikon no tama blasting out with more pure energy than she could have mustered up her entire life.

Naraku let out an agonized wail as pure energy burned his skin alive and he felt his very soul ripping apart. With his last moments he glared upon the body of Kagome and disappeared from existence.

From three stories high the body of Kagome fell to the grass below. The sky cleared of the red, and instead the dawning sun's orange hue took over. The trees were back to normal, as if they had been untouched. The demons and humans alike in the group were breathing fine, and even their fatal wounds were healed. Standing up Inuyasha ran towards the ledge and jumped off to land next to Kagome's body.

Carefully cradling her body in his arms he swept back the hair that covered her now peaceful face. As he stared at her still form he felt a tingling sensation around his neck, then something falling around him. He looked down to see that the rosary had come apart. The last connection that he physically had with her was gone. There would never be an "osuwari" in his future and there will never be the voice of the woman that called it out ringing in his ears.

This was how she ended it. All of it.

This was how she brought peace back into everyone's lives.

This was how he lost the love of his life. Again.

"Wait for me, because I'll chase you forever."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: Only an epilogue left.


	23. Eternally Yours

·

1Author Notes: This is it. This is the very end of 'Remembering You.' Actually, it's beyond the end, it's the epilogue. This is what happens to everything after all the thing I put them through in this fiction. It was a very emotional ride for me and I can't believe I'm letting them go. I will miss them all greatly. I promised myself that I would not allow myself to read the end of Inuyasha (yes, the manga is over in Japan as of June 18th). So here it is, the end of Inuyasha and Kagome's love story. Thank you for you patience through these years and thank you for anyone that read it all in one time. I hope to pick up 'Quadrille of War' again. And without further delay, enjoy the last instalment of 'Remembering You.' Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and Kagome's canon does not belong to me, but this storyline does.

**Eternally Yours**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

"Are you sure you can handle this on your own Inuyasha?"

I look up at the woman I've known for years handling a very pregnant belly. I have to smile at that. This is her third pregnancy and I can tell that she's feeling her age this time. Standing up from the crouch position from taking care of the eight-year-old ball of energy, I ruffle the top of the boy's head.

"Don't worry so much, you're going to have premature gray hair."

She frowned at this comment. "I don't want to here that from someone that has always had gray hair."

This time I frown. "It's silver."

Rolling her eyes she looked down at the boy I had been helping tie the shoes of and shows a stern face. "Now are you going to cause problems?"

The boy scrunched his brows and shook his head vigorously. I raised a brow at the reprimanding woman. "He's not even your kid. Should you be mothering him Sango?"

She glares at me. "He's yours. You should be doing this."

I have to laugh at that, "Mine? My nephew that is." Looking toward the boy I smirk. "Hey Chizuru, go get the others so we can get going."

The boy nodded and ran off to the other room where the sound of laughing children could be heard.

Sitting on the kitchen stool I sigh as Sango leans against the counter. "I think I'm going to get too old for this soon."

She laughs at my comment. "You? Too old? Because of your half demon blood you're only twenty-seven years old physically." Rubbing her belly she sighed, "I'm forty years old and pregnant again."

I grin, "Not my fault you and Miroku can't keep your hands off each other."

"I swear. This is that last one. I'm pushing the child conceiving timeframe as it is."

"Maybe this one will be a girl."

She smiled, "God, I hope so. I don't think I could handle four boys."

"Inuyasha!"

Hearing the familiar voice I turn toward the doorway. "Kagome." I open my arms up to her and she runs into them. "I didn't know you were coming with us today."

She looks up at me with her stormy blue eyes that I love. She seems to be searching for something on my face.

"What wrong?"

"The boys won't listen to me."

I laugh. "You're a girl. They're prepubescent boys. It's bound to happen. Where's Chizuru anyways? I sent him in to get you kids."

She gave the best exasperated sigh I have ever seen a six year old give. "He joined in the game of cowboys and Indians the moment he came into the room."

Taking Kagome's hand I lead her to the other room where five over-energetic boys are running around. "Come on idiots. We're going to leave without you if you don't hurry up."

A boy with silver hair and with the same dog-ears I grew up with, scrunches his face at the sight of little Kagome holding tightly onto my hand with her tiny ones. "She's coming with us? I thought this was a day just for men!"

I roll my eyes. "If any other men come with me I'll call it that, but at the moment it's going to be five boys and one young lady. So get your brother and Izumi and Mizuki."

Leaving the girl to fend for herself for a bit I return to the kitchen to find Sango getting the boys things ready. Seeing the mountain of backpacks and sleeping bags I shake my head. "They're coming to my house not a camping trip. I don't see why they need sleeping bags when I have enough beds for all of them."

Narrowing her eyes at me she pauses in her packing. "Apparently you don't understand little boys, because trust me, they are going to want to camp outside on your backyard even when there are enough beds."

Now I'm confused. From the way Kagome had described her slumber party with friends she had said they all shared beds and watched movies and made cookies. I guess the dynamics of boys and girls are different... the boys party sounds like more fun anyways.

"What should I do with Kagome then? Is she going to want to hang out with the boys?"

Sango shrugged, "I don't see why not. She's always with them when she comes over here. At her age, she barely notices a difference."

"Inuyasha!" I turn to see Kagome tearing up and running towards me with the rest of the boys coming in after her.

Seeing her tears I narrow my eyes at the boys, one boy in particular. "What did you guys do this time?"

All the boys point their betraying little fingers at the boy in the middle. Standing there with an annoyed look on his face is the eight-year-old wonder that is my nephew with my namesake. "Inuyasha." I still can't get used saying my own name at someone else. Especially someone that looks so much like me.

The boy barely glances at the sniveling girl and faces away. "I didn't do anything."

"You said I was too stupid to play the game because I'm a girl!" Kagome is grabbing tightly to my pant leg as she points accusingly at the older boy.

I don't mind kids, I sometimes even like them. But the moment I get Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru and Rin's oldest son, and Kagome, Souta's only daughter, in the same room I get an instant headache. I sometimes wish they had never met... or at least not until they were in their mid-to-late teens.

"Inuyasha, stop calling people stupid. And Kagome, don't believe anything that comes out of his mouth." Pointing toward the piles of luggage I give my orders. "Now everyone grab their bag and sleeping bag and head toward the front door. I'll meet you guys there."

As the kids obediently scurry about I give a sigh when I'm left in the kitchen with Sango again.

"How are you planning to last an entire weekend if you're already tired within five minutes?"

I glance at Sango and shake my head. "I'll be fine. They'll be fine. Just as long as I can keep Inuyasha and Kagome away from each other. Seriously, they're like cats and dogs. With our names on those two kids you would think they would get along a lot better."

Sango barked out a laugh at that. "Are you serious? You and Kagome were a lot worse than that before you confessed your feeling to each other. Actually, you were a lot worse afterwards as well. He's just in that phase in life when girls have cooties, but you'll see, in a few years he'll be head over heals for her."

I frown at that. That is actually the last thing I wish upon those kids. Speaking of the devil Inuyasha comes into the room with an impatient look on his face. "Are you coming Inuyasha?"

Rolling my eyes, I turn toward Sango and say my farewells, "You guys and Rin and Sesshoumaru are to never plan a getaway on the same weekend ever again."

Laughing she waves me goodbye and the little boy and I make our way toward the front of the house. "Hey Yasha."

He looks up at me and frowns at the shortening of the name. He had never liked his name being shortened, something I had desperately wanted to do to avoid confusion but the little boy would have none of it.

"Yeah?"

"Don't fall in love with her."

The look of confusion on his face is hilarious because I'm sure he has no idea what I'm talking about. "With who?"

I smile down at him but I know the gravity of what I'm about to say. "Kagome."

Sticking out his tongue as if with an unpleasant taste in his mouth he responds, "Yuck. She's a girl!... She's Kagome!"

I shake my head, "Just remember what I'm telling you. Save yourself the tragic love story by finding yourself a nice half demon. Don't fall for a human, it'll just be heartbreaking."

The boy barely understands what I mean by my words and shrugs it off like the weather. "Okay. Whatever you say Inuyasha."

I frown, "Uncle."

He rolls his yes, "Whatever you say Uncle Inuyasha."

I sigh and look down at the boy then glance up to find the girl in question ready with her pink backpack and purple sleeping bag. Yeah, she's going to break his heart.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Days like these are when I miss her the most. Everyone is gathered around and the rain is softly falling. We're lined up in black clothes as if ready to be shot at. The priest speaks clearly, but no one is really listening. All he has to say is not as important as our own thoughts. It's more of a formality than something we need.

I'm standing next to my brother as people come up to give their condolences for Rin's death. I know what he's going through. I went through the same thing twenty-six years ago at Kagome's funeral. Sometimes it feels like just yesterday I woke up to find her sleeping soundly next to me bathed in the morning sun. I can still remember the way her nose crinkled and her brows furrowed as she woke.

I glance over at Sesshoumaru and I see the only sign of emotion I have ever seen on him. It is barely there, but the sadness in his eyes is apparent to someone who's known him for five hundred plus years. Even though I know he's going to go through bouts of internal depression after losing his wife to an inoperable brain tumor- the disease recalling memories of Kagome's father's death- I'm more worried about his kids.

A collective of two daughters and five sons, he has more on his plate than I did when Kagome passed away. His twin daughters had shed quiet tears in the hospital room when their mother had passed, but now they held their composure along with the rest of the Touken boys. The Touken family is nothing if not proud. The girls had already moved out and begun their life in the work force; one, was already engaged. But the rest of the family... The oldest of the boys is Inuyasha and he's only seventeen, his youngest brother Keigo is barely four years old.

The last of the people from the funeral come up to us. They're the people that knew Rin the best. They're the people we've known since this whole epic story started for us so many years ago. This is the third funeral that we have collectively been to. The first was Kagome, then it was Kaede three years after that, and now it's Rin.

Sango tentatively goes up to my brother and gives him a sincere hug. Pulling away she looks him in the eye, "I'm so sorry Sesshoumaru. I know saying that doesn't help, but please know that we all loved her very much."

Sesshoumaru nods his head. Kouga and Miroku bow their head respectfully to him and his family. They leave and I am left with my brother and his seven motherless kids.

I glance up at him. "I hate to ask this, but what are you going to do now?"

He doesn't even flinch or make a gesture that he heard me.

"Can you raise seven kids on your own?"

"Are suggesting I get remarried?" There is an iciness to his voice that I had seldom heard.

I shake my head. "That's not what I meant. I know there's no one but Rin for you, but what about the kids? Can you handle all that?"

He doesn't say anything. I look over to Rin's seven children. I let out a sigh.

"Come move into my house."

Sesshoumaru glances at me for a moment then nods.

And that's how the Touken family was consolidated into one house. Sesshoumaru's twin girls, Ageha and Kazuha, moved out of their aparment in the city. At twenty-four years old, they moved into my house as well. They said they couldn't let seven male dog demons live alone together and expect them all to be surviving by the end of the week.

About two weeks after the whole Touken clan ended up under one roof, my door bell rang. My house is out of the way so I don't exactly get visitors. When I opened the door a vision from my past greeted me.

"Kagome..."

She beamed up at me in her green sailor school uniform. It's been thirty-one years since my Kagome attended that middle school, you would think the uniform would change. But that wasn't the case. The only difference between the two Kagomes is their haircuts.

She stepped forward and gave me hug. "Hey Inuyasha. My dad sent me."

"Sent you for what?"

Smiling she stepped around me into the house. "Heard the dog demons are living under one roof. I'm here to help the twins with holding down the fort."

"Which twins?"

She rolls her eyes the same way my Kagome used to. "Obviously Kazuha and Ageha, but there seriously are a ridiculous amount of twins running around your group of friends. Sesshoumaru has two pairs and Miroku and Sango have a pair, and they're all identical!"

I shrug as I lead her toward the kitchen. "I guess three pairs is a bit weird."

"I'm sure it is some kind of statistical phenomenon."

We reach the kitchen and Sesshoumaru is sitting at the island drinking a cup of coffee. He sees Kagome and I can tell that he's a bit taken aback by the uniform. It's the not the first time he's seen her in it, but I think it's nothing any of us will ever get used to.

"Why are you in your uniform on a Sunday?"

Did he just talk? I stare at Sesshoumaru. That's the first time that he has directed a word at someone outside of his direct family since the funeral.

Kagome smiles brightly as she grabs herself a mug out of the cupboard and helps herself to coffee. "I'm part of the student counsel and we had an end of the school year meeting."

I take the cup out of her hand and sip it. She frowns, I shake my head. "You'll stunt your growth."

She rolls her eyes. "I doubt I'll be growing anymore. Anyways, are you two coming to my graduation?"

"Yeah Souta told me about it last week. We'll be there."

Sesshoumaru gives no reaction, that's as good as a 'yes' as I am going to get from him.

Kazuha, who is tall, slender and has the more feminine version of her Sesshoumaru's face, comes into the kitchen. "Kagome? What are you doing here?"

The younger woman grins. "Hey Kazuha, nice to see you too."

Kazuha shakes her head and goes up to Kagome to give her a hug. "You know you're my favorite cousin."

I roll my eyes. Sesshoumaru's twin girls adore Kagome, probably because they ended up with so many brothers and no younger sisters.

"She's not your cousin."

"Don't say that uncle Inuyasha." This time it's Ageha that walks into the kitchen. "She's your godchild. So, we're the closest thing we're ever going to have to a cousin."

I could see Ageha regret the words the moment the left her mouth. Sesshoumaru gave her a stern fatherly look. They still tiptoe around my Kagome's death. None of these kids have ever met her, and don't know our whole history. They just know that there was another Kagome in the past and that she was the love of my very long life.

"With so many siblings you two have I don't think you need to be adding onto your family." I could always count on Kagome to consciously change the topic of conversation.

Ageha smiled appreciatively, "Speaking of siblings, the twins were asking when you were going to visit again."

Kagome grinned, "Oh where are Mitsuya and Shizuya?"

"They're in the living room watching Keigo for a second. Here, help me carry snacks to them." Kazuha handed Kagome juice boxes and led her out of the kitchen with Ageha.

"She didn't mean that."

I look at Sesshoumaru, "I know. It's okay. It was a long time ago."

"... I know how it feels now."

I haven't gotten over Kagome's death and it's been over twenty years, I don't know how long it will be for Sesshoumaru. Rin is the only person he had ever opened up to, there are sides to him that he only showed her that even his kids have never seen.

"It gets easier." This is a centennial occurrence; these are not moments that happen often between us.

"What gets easier?" And the moment ends with my nephew parades into the kitchen.

"Don't worry about it Yasha." I see him frown. He hasn't changed since he was little. He still get annoyed by the shortening of the name, I sometimes wish Rin hadn't insisted that her first-born boy be named after me. I don't exactly understand why none of the other boys have their father's name.

Yasha sniffs the air and walks over to the fridge to grab a soda. "Kagome's here?"

He tries to be nonchalant about it, but I know my fifteen-year-old godchild sparks his interest. I had hoped that since they pretty much grew up together that they would only see each other as makeshift siblings -but I obviously underestimated young love.

"Kagome's here?"

What is this a parade of the Sesshoumaru's kids? After living alone in this house for so many years it's still hard getting used to the sudden influx of people. Chizuru, who is fourteen, takes after his mother in the looks department. But like Yasha, he also has dog-ears and silver hair. Also like Yasha, Chizuru has a thing for Kagome.

"She's in the living room helping your sisters with your brothers."

Without any other word Chizuru was out of the kitchen and headed toward Kagome.

Yasha frowned. "When is he going to find someone his own age?"

Sesshoumaru raises a brow at Yasha's jealous tone. I laugh. "They're a year apart."

The young youkai apparently didn't appreciate his younger brother's attentions. "She's older though."

"You and Kagome are two years apart," Sesshoumaru points out.

I laugh on the inside. I can't believe Sesshoumaru actually just said that to his own son.

Yasha glares at his father then leaves the kitchen.

I look at Sesshoumaru and laugh, "I don't want to be around when someone finally confesses their feelings."

"You're one to talk. It took you centuries before you got up the nerve."

"Whoever she picks," He raises an eyebrow. We both know who she's going to pick. "Is going to get hurt. Both of them are. There's a reason why it's taboo for demons and humans to be together."

My brother looks down at the coffee mug and grips it. I can hear the ceramic creak from the pressure of his hands, but he loosens his clasp. He looks up at me, "I'm not going to stop them."

I nod, "I warned him when he was younger, but I won't stop them either. When they're older, I'll tell them. I'll tell him what his options are."

Even though any relationship between a youkai and human is tragic with the simple factor of age progression. A full-blooded youkai ages one year every ten human years and half-demons every five. We eventually outlive our human spouses, but I know Sesshoumaru would say the same thing I do when I say that I don't regret it. The time I had with Kagome is something I would never give up, and I know the same goes for Sesshoumaru with Rin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Keigo!"

The young half demon stops in his steps. His small dog-ears perk up on attention. He ducks under the dining table and sprints out the room before the female owner of the voice catches up with him.

"Keigo!"

He rounded the corner and he felt his shirt collar pull as he was lifted up. I shake my head at my youngest nephew. "What the hell did you do this time?"

Sango comes around the same corner that Keigo came around. She sees that I grabbed the culprit and she leans against the wall. "I'm getting too old for this."

After Keigo was properly punished for breaking a window -again- Sango slumps onto a couch. "Nothing makes me feel older than running after that boy."

I laugh, "You're not old."

"I'm fifty-six Inuyasha. I'm going to be using the senior citizen discount soon." She glares at me, "And you and your hanyou blood mocks me. You finally physically turned thirty."

Time passes faster than I am ready for it. Even though Sango and Miroku, both because of their years of training, look no older than forty-five I worry about them. I know that if nothing drastic happens to me, I will outlive them.

I can't think it's been an easy adjustment for everyone to have altered aging where it felt like we would be alive forever, and then have our aging back to normal. I sometimes wonder why all of us had our aging altered. I can't think of how Myouga, Kirara, Shippou, or even Sango made a difference in Kagome's second calling. It's like Amaterasu knew she would die, so she let her see them again. Thankfully, I don't think anyone regrets it nor resents it.

"So what are you up to today?"

I groaned, "I'm going to have lunch with Yasha."

Sango raises a brow, "You make it sound like you're getting a root canal done. So why the sudden man outing?"

"He said he needed to talk to me. Something about a 'big decision.'"

I huge grin split across her face. "Oh my goodness. Do you think its-"

"I'm completely convinced that's what he wants to talk about."

"This is so exciting!"

I frown, this is not exciting, especially not for me. "He's too young."

She gives me a deadpan look, "You were his age when you did it."

I was his age. It was thirty-three years ago when I asked Kagome to marry me and be by my side forever. Little did I know that forever wasn't going to be very long for us. That's one of the greatest regrets I have in my life, not having married her in the end.

That's why I can't stop Yasha as he sits across from me in a booth at a diner. He's fidgeting with his food. He's nervous. I think he's more nervous with me than he will be with Souta when he asks him for Kagome's hand. But if he doesn't say something soon I'm going to smack the young dog demon upside the head.

"Who are you kidding Yasha? I know why you asked to have lunch with me today."

He is taken aback, but he nods. "I'm sorry."

I can't help but sigh. "You forgot the advice I gave... I guess you couldn't help it, you were so young."

"I remembered," He looks at me with a sad smile, "I just couldn't help but fall for her."

"And you came to me for approval?"

"You were the one that was the most against us-"

"I'm going to have to stop you right there. I wasn't against you two getting together or being together. I just didn't want either of you to go through what my Kagome and I went through. And especially because she looks just like her and you look just like me, it felt like I was watching our story unfold in modern times. But I wish you two nothing but happiness. And I will make sure that you two don't go through what we had to go through."

He nodded, "Thanks. It means a lot."

I've been anticipating this moment since my nephew turned six and he started picking on Kagome. "Now you need to here your options."

"My options?"

Apparently Sesshoumaru didn't tell him anything. "You know that you're going to age a lot slower than Kagome. You going to outlive her five times over."

He visibly flinches. He's known this for a while. He probably started thinking about it the moment right after he fell for her and couldn't see a life without her.

"Yasha, you have the option of living life with her the way you do now. In a couple of years you're going to stop aging like humans. Demons age quickly for the first twenty-five years of their life so that we're not vulnerable children for too long. You're going to age one year for every five."

"I know."

"Or you can use the spell Kaede found. You've never met her, but she's the priestess that we knew from the feudal era."

He leaned forward. "I know who she is. There's a spell? What kind of spell."

"She told me that it was a spell to get rid of one of my sides. My human or demon. She said that since I was half demon it could be done, but she misunderstood the spell. You can't expel your demon or your human side."

"Then what does the spell do?"

"It's an incantation that was made by a sorcerer that fell in love with a female youkai. The spell allowed half his spiritual blood to go to her and half her demon blood to go into him. They became the same species and with the same life span."

He furrowed his brows, "You're suggesting I ask Kagome to take half my demon blood? I don't know if I can do that to her."

I nod, "I know, but that's her decision to make. But I'm also giving you another option. You can give up your demon blood completely and you can live with her as a human."

"How could that be possible?"

"You can give me your demon blood and I will give you my human blood."

He stands up clattering the dishes on the table as he knocks into it. "What?! I- I can't do that! My mother told me before she died about how you lose control when your demon blood takes over. She was worried the same thing would happen to us, but since we don't fight she thought it would be fine."

"I know, and I have no idea how I'm going to end up being if I were to become a full demon... but I've talked with you father. We have figured out everything. It's only up to you and Kagome to decide now."

I lay out enough money to cover the entire bill and I slip out of the booth. "Just tell me what you two decide within the next few years." I ruffle the top of his head, a habit I can't seem to get rid of no matter how old or tall Yasha becomes. "And congratulations. Just tell me when and where to show up for the happy day."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I spun around in my chair. I'm so bored. It's one of those days at work where there seems to be nothing to do. Five minutes more of this and I'm going to leave. Who the hell is going to stop me?

The intercom beeps on. "Mr. Touken?"

Ugh. God. Let it be some kind of crisis. I'm bored out of my mind. "Yeah?"

"There is a Miss Kagome Higurashi to see you. She says she is your niece."

Why am I getting a sudden sense of deja vu? "Send her in."

The door creaks open and Kagome pops her head in. It's the exactly same vision I saw all those years ago when I hadn't seen my Kagome in eight years.

"What can do for you Kagome?"

Smiling she helps herself to a seat. "Just came to see my favorite godfather."

I see the engagement ring on her left ring finger. I point to it, "Congratulations."

She looks down at it with a smile I've never seen before in her. "Thank you."

"How's your dad feel about it?"

She laughs, "He's ecstatic. He said that if there was anyone he could give his little girl away to it would be Inuyasha Touken. I think he assumes that Inuyasha is a complete copy of you."

"You know your dad used to hate me."

"Yeah, until he got his old memories back. After that you were the Inuyasha that he hero worshiped."

She fidgets with her ring and I can tell she wants to tell me something but is afraid to. "I'm guessing Yasha talked to you about the spell? Did you two come up with decision?"

Kagome allows for a pause to take over the room then she looks me straight in the eye. "He doesn't know what he wants to do."

I raise a brow, "He doesn't, but you do. That's why you're here."

"I'm going to ask you for the biggest favor of my life. I want you to exchange your demon blood with my human one."

"What? Are you asking to... Kagome, I can't do that to you."

She shakes her head, "Inuyasha is still young, and he still in a way resents being half-demon. He hasn't accepted himself yet. I don't want to make him throw away an identity when he hasn't come to terms with it."

"You can become a quarter demon along with him. Kagome, you becoming a half-demon is not going to do anything."

"Yes it will." She gets up and leans forward over the table. "I want to live my life with him."

"And you want me to give up my demon?"

She smiled sadly, "I know you wanted to become human for my aunt. You wanted to live a life with her that is completely normal and human."

"She's gone Kagome."

"I know, but I want you to live a human life. I want you to feel like you have to fulfill every dream in your life. I want you to feel like you don't have forever to wait."

I couldn't help the tear that slipped out of my eye. I stared at my young godchild and couldn't help but see my Kagome. She is the exact age my Kagome was when she died and they look identical. The words she had just said to me felt like it came from the only woman I had fallen in love with.

She came around the desk and pulled me into an embrace. "Please do this for me and Inuyasha... and for you."

And that's how I became human.

I got an earful from Yasha the moment he caught wind of Kagome's plan. But she quieted him down and took him into another room. I'm not sure what she said to him, but when they came back out he hugged me and thanked me repeatedly. They got married by the end of the year and Kagome was pregnant a month after that.

About a year after that and seeing my great-godchild I decided that I was going to retire. After years of working it was time for me to take a break. Without any children of my own I passed on Touken Ginkou to Shippou. He finally had the body of a twenty-seven year old, but it was about time that he goes out in the real world and live.

When I told him the news he just smiled and shook his head. He proceeded to tell me that he'd take care of me like the grandson that I never have. I would have preferred the term 'son.' But at the rate I'm going to grow old from now on, I'll catch up too quickly.

My age. It's amazing how much more I appreciate things now. Unlike the five centuries I had to kill before, I now have only a few decades before my human body wears out from old age. I spend more time with friends and family. I do all the traveling and activities I had always wanted to do, but had put off because 'I had time.'

Time never felt any shorter than when Souta died. Then five years later Sango died, she was ninety-two. Miroku fell apart. His four kids and twelve grandkids tried to be there for him, but they didn't understand. I asked him to move in with me and he took me up on the offer. He even joked that I was trying to start up a brothel of widows.

So at my house lived Miroku, Sesshoumaru, Shippou and me. I would have invited Kouga but even after all these years I feel like we would have pissed each other off too much. Kouga also ended up getting married, again, with a female wolf demon from Italy. He had a bunch of kids again and I don't think he could be any more content.

Speaking of demons, I see Myouga every-so-often but it's like usual. No one notices when he leaves, we just notice when he shows up. I can't believe that guy is still alive. And Guy Donahue? Last I heard he was head of the Underground police department. Good for him.

Sesshoumaru is till working, he's still young and all. But I don't think he'll ever get married again. He, like Miroku and me, is a one-woman man. I can't believe we're just a group of hopeless romantics.

That never seemed truer then when Miroku died thirteen years later. He was one hundred seven, and I've never seen a man die happier. He said that he outlived the wind tunnel that had doomed his early life. He also said he couldn't wait till he could be with Sango again.

Then it was Sesshoumaru and Shippou with me in the house. Sesshoumaru's grandkids came to visit all the time. Yasha and Kagome visit the most. Their brood of eight terrorizes the house every time they come over. Their second son looks just like his father and by default, like me. This time he didn't get my name, it saved on the confusion of someone calling for 'Inuyasha' and having three identical people turn around.

"So how's it going Inuyasha?"

I frown, "Uncle."

Yasha rolls his yes, "Uncle Inuyasha. Anything new happening?"

I laugh, "I'm ninety-six Yasha, nothing new happens anymore."

He looks over my gray hair, wrinkled face and purple eyes. Any trace that I was a demon is gone. He, on the other hand, looks like he's in his early thirties. And I know exactly what he's thinking now.

I pat him on his knee, "I don't regret it Yasha. I don't regret it a single day."

"Even in old age?"

"Old age? Don't call an old man old, it's bad for his heart. But yeah, even in old age. Actually, especially in old age."

He nods, "Okay."

Kagome comes into the living room and plops down next to me and gives me a kiss on the cheek. "Hey Inuyasha."

I grin, "You spoil an old man."

Yasha frowned, "You just told me not to call you old."

She rolls her eyes, "Ignore him. Are we still all getting together for Christmas?"

"Why wouldn't we? I expect you kids to come here and cook me a good dinner."

She laughs, "I'm not that great of a cook."

Yasha shakes his head, "She's an amazing cook."

She blushes and playfully smacks her husband. These are the moments that convince me that I made the best decision of my life. These two kids can have the life that Kagome and I always wanted.

I lightly grip Kagome's hand and she turns her attention to me smiling, "What's wrong?"

"I want you two to be happy forever."

A bright smiles spreads across her face, "There's nothing stopping us."

And there's nothing stopping me. The next spring, exactly one hundred years after my Kagome had died, I felt my body withering. I said my goodbyes to everyone; they didn't know it was a goodbye though. They all came over for my birthday a week before -I knew I didn't have much left.

Sesshoumaru figured it out and took off work. He didn't do anything in particular. He just stuck around the house. It was nice having the company, albeit it was silent company.

Maybe it's because I had been alive for so many years and dying was something so completely different. Sure, I've almost died in battle a few times, but this was different. So one Sunday morning I asked Shippou to take me to the Higurashi shrine.

With the tetsusaiga in my hand Shippou walked me up the steps.

"Are you sure this is where you want to be?"

I look at the man shouldering my weight as I walk slowly on the shrine grounds. I can still remember a time when he barely reached my knee. "You're one of the people I've known the longest. You've been with our group for a long time."

The fox demon frowns, "Don't get sentimental. It feels like a goodbye."

"Let's just call it like we see them. Now take me to the goshinboku."

He helped me get nestled by the roots of the tree. I pat him on the sholder. "Just hang out around here. Sorry for making you take care of-"

"Don't mention it." He gives me a hug, a rarity from the demon. "You were like an older brother. I'll never forget everything that you and Kagome did for me."

"You're going to be a formidable demon." I grin up at him, "Don't terrorize the world too much."

He nods and smiles, "I'll try."

He walks away to leave me alone with the goshinboku. It's the weekend and the shrine is empty. There is no one in my field of view. The sakura petals float around me. The same sakura trees I planted all those years ago.

I look up at the leaves that are beginning to sprout from the goshinboku. The sunlight filters through and I feel something sweep through me. My eyes widen. This is a feeling I've gone through countless times before.

Looking down at my previously human hands are claws. My gray hair is once again silver. I can feel my dog-ears sliding to the top of my head. I smell the sakura petals again. It smells like Kagome. The sounds, smells, sights around me is sharpened. It felt like I had a fog that fell over me for the past sixty years. Now it's lifted.

I'm a hanyou again. I smile up at the trees. "Thank you."

I can feel my energy draining. I take in the world that held onto me for over six centuries. I'll miss it here, but this is what my life lead up to. And to honestly say, I miss Kagome more.

"I hope you're still waiting."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He felt like he had woken up from a long dream. Opening his eyes he could see the familiar canopy above his bed and a quick glance of the room showed that it was his room. Sitting up on the satin sheets he felt like he was missing something. Something big, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

He changed out of his sleep clothes and pulled on his robes. Why did it feel like it has been years since he did this last? This was something he did every night. He was Tsukiyomi, god of the moon, it was his duty to wander the night for all of eternity.

Walking up to the water basin he sighed, maybe it was just one of those nights. Washing his face he looked up in the mirror.

"What the hell?"

Tsukiyomi traced his features in the mirror. His face was exactly as he remembered it, but his once silver-blue hair was purely silver. His blue eyes were now amber. What was the most surprising were his ears. They were no longer at the side of his head, but looked like dog-ears at the top of his head. And there, in those very ears was his blue stud earring on ear and a small red hoop earring on the other ear.

"Wakahirume."

He sprinted out the doors into the night air. He went bounding down the long steps. It didn't matter why he looked the way he did, what was important was that he came back. And if what Amaterasu promised was true she should be back too. He knew exactly where she would be.

He made his way through the trees and long weeds. Dodging branches and leaping over boulders he finally came upon the clearing. The clearing where he first met Wakahirume. Where their souls first met.

Bathed in moonlight stood a woman with his back to him. Her hair was long and black, not like the gold of Wakahirume. Her robes were navy, not red. But even though her coloring was different he knew.

"Wakahirume."

A breeze kicked up her hair and she turned around tucking her hair behind her ears. Her steel-blue eyes locked onto his fiery amber ones. Her eyes widened, then a relieved smile spread across her face.

Tears welling in her eyes she called out to him, "It took you long enough Tsukiyomi."

He walked up to her then stroked her cheek. She closed her eyes taking in the moment. "Is this real?"

Opening her eyes she nodded, "You're finally here with me."

"How are you outside? You're the goddess of the dawning sun, you can't be out in the night."

"I'm the goddess of the moon now. When I got to Takamagahara, Amaterasu was taking care of the sun and moon. She needed to relieve the burden."

He furrowed his brows in confusion. "Then what am I now?"

"God of the moon. We can be together from now on, not like the stolen minutes like before." She pulled him into a kiss and leaned her forehead against his. "I love you Tsukiyomi."

He felt a tingling sensation go through him, it was something beyond the kiss. He searched her eyes, "Wakahi-... Kagome?"

"You remember? How? It took me years before I got all my memories back."

He grinned and pulled her into an embrace that he never wanted to let go of. "We're soul mates remember? If my soul is willing all my memories would come back to me."

He stroked her hair and repeated the words that she had said to him so many years ago. "Remembering you is the reason I was born. It's what makes me complete. It's what makes sense in all this chaos."

Fingers tangling in her hair he couldn't believe that he finally had her in his arms.

"Kagome... Kagome."

Pulling back she allowed her fingers to memorize his face. "We're finally together? Forever?"

He finally allowed a smile to come cross his features, "Like I would settle for anything less."

She grinned at the man that contained the soul she fell love with. No matter how many obstacles that come in their way, they can get through it. Because when you're soul mates there is always going to eventually be a happily ever after.

"I love you Tsukiyomi... Inuyasha."

The end.


End file.
